The Right Moment
by Julians Angel
Summary: JJ - After Rachel left town, Luke and Lorelai can start a serious relationship. With a lot of JJ fluff! Chapter 23 is up! COMPLETE
1. Default Chapter

** Title: „**The Right Moment"

**Pairing**: Lorelai/Luke

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters. Just borrow them for my story.

**A/N/: ** Set in episode „The Damn Donna Reed". What if things would have gone different?

-----

It was late in the evening when Lorelai was with Luke at the Diner, showing him some color examples for his walls.

Luke had no idea how it came to this, but somehow she persuaded him to renovate his lovely Diner. The same Diner which wasn't painted since his Dad was alive. But now he had to get through this, he thought sighing.

Standing behind the counter, he watched Lorelai gesturing with her hands while she told him what colors would be great for the walls, the edgings around the doors and windows.

"Come on, Luke. Don't look like this. It's going to be fun." Lorelai offered him a grin.

Luke raised an eyebrow, "Why do you like painting that much?"

"Everybody likes painting."

"It's work. I'm sure not everybody likes painting." He said, wiping the counter.

"Don't argue with me, Mister. You already said yes." She told him, with her hands on her hips.

"I'm not sure why." He mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Good because I spent _hours_ to look for some colors. I flipped through all of my magazines and believe me, I have_ lots_ of magazines."

"I remember that." He stopped wiping and looked at her. "You're really serious about this, are you?"

"Sure. Imagine, everything's going to be new." She gestured around. "Nothing against the current colors but it's time for a change."

Luke walked around the counter to one of the walls, "You know, I haven't painted the Diner since my father was alive. I didn't change anything."

"I know. The hardware sign outside." she smiled.

"Yep, for example. Somewhere behind the counter, he wrote down an order because he ran out of paper."

"Really?" Lorelai got up and walked behind the counter, "Oh, here." She sat down on the floor and Luke joined her."

"I've seen it from time to time." He looked at the spot and back to Lorelai.

"Well…" she laughed, "…then we should not spruce this particular spot."

"Sounds good." he smiled.

"Okay." She smiled back at him when they suddenly heard noises from outside.

Luke was about to get up but Lorelai grabbed his shirt and held him down, telling him they'll go away if they see that nobody was there.

Taylor was standing outside with a couple of people, knocking on the door and window and peeking through the blinds.

"Unbelievable." Luke muttered.

"Sssh." Lorelai peeked around the counter, looking if they were still there. After a few more knocks they gave up and left.

Luke knelt beside her, "Gone?"

"Gone!" Lorelai turned to look at him and noticed how close he was.

"Thanks." He whispered.

"You're welcome." She looked into his eyes, a slow smile forming on her lips.

There he was, not more than a few inches away from the most beautiful woman on earth. He loved everything on her. Her fascinating blue eyes, her beautiful smile, her dark long curly hair, her sweet scent. Then it happened, he didn't know why but this was all he could think about in this moment. He leant in and met her lips in a gentle kiss.

Lorelai didn't know what to think. It felt good somehow but she pulled apart to look at him, "What was that?" she asked, a little out of breath.

"I'm not sure." He swallowed, still looking at her.

Slowly they moved closer for a second kiss, when the phone rang and they jumped apart, "Jesus Christ…" Luke muttered and got up to grab the phone, "Yeah?"

"Huh, I knew it."

"Who's there?" Luke asked, frowning.

"Taylor ."

Luke retorted upset, "What do you want?"

"This my friend, I tried to tell you a minute ago but you didn't let me in."

"It's closed, Taylor . You should be able to read the sign."

"But you're still there."

"And?"

"You could have opened when I knocked."

"But I didn't want to." Luke prompted angrily.

"That's not very polite, Luke."

"Who cares."

"We were there for an interview." Taylor told him, matter of factly.

"Excuse me?"

"You'll be on the front cover of the Stars Hollow Press. Renovating the Diner is _the_ event of the year. Everybody has the right to be informed."

"I don't want to be on the front cover, Taylor." Luke said and looked at Lorelai who got up and grabbed her light blue winter jacket from one of the tables.

She slipped into her jacket and headed towards the door. All she wanted was to get out of here because she was confused. Confused about what happened minutes ago. She left the Diner without a word and didn't even hear Luke calling after her.

"Lorelai… wait."

"Are you listening to me? We're not finished here." Taylor said on the other side of the line.

"I think we are." He ended the call and hurried after her, but all he could see was her rear lights of the car, disappearing into the night….

----

_So, this is my first try in writing a Gilmore Girls story. So please tell me what you think... should I write more??? I promise the next chapter would be longer...lol :) _


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for all your nice reviews. They mean a lot to me! :)  
gilmoregirl1979: thanks for you suggestions.. i was away over the weekend and wrote the next part, so i couldn't put them in. but i would be glad to talk to you via email to discuss some ideas!  
_ ---- Chapter 2 

A few minutes later, Lorelai arrived home. She slipped out of her jacket and threw it on the couch, heading straight to Rory's room, "Rory?" she shouted.

But with a sigh she remembered that her daughter was at Babette's, babysitting her little cat.

So she walked back into the living room, trying not to think about what happened at the Diner. She and Luke. Her old friend Luke, she thought laughing, kissed her behind the counter. She put a hand on her forehead and shook her head, 'Do not think about that!'

Suddenly the phone rang. Hesitantly she walked to the table, staring at the phone. When she was about to pick up, the machine answered.

"Hey. It's me. Uhm, seems like you're not home yet or you don't want to talk to me." Luke paused for a moment, "It's probably the second. I… look, what happened back there, it wasn't… I… I didn't…" he sighed, "Could you please pick up the phone. I feel like an idiot, talking to this damn machine." He waited again, "Okay, apparently not. I'm sorry for calling." he said and ended the call.

Somehow Lorelai felt sorry for Luke but she couldn't deal with this. Not yet, not today. So she headed upstairs into her room and sank onto her bed, where she soon fell asleep.

---

_ The next morning _

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up." Lorelai said sleepily, coming down the stairs still wearing her pyjamas.

"And I can't believe you let it escape." Rory got up and looked at her mother with her hands on her hips.

"What?" Lorelai asked yawning, looking around.

"Stella." She told her but noticed Lorelai's puzzled expression, "You know, the bird you named Stella. My school project. I came home this morning and saw the cage in the kitchen with no bird in it."

"Oh." Lorelai rubbed her eyes.

"Yes. _Oh_. I saw the cage and asked myself, what the hell happened and why is the cage open? And then I remembered that you were the last one who saw it. It's seven now, which means I was looking for this bird for an whole hour but I couldn't find it and..." Rory said and stopped as Lorelai turned to walk into the kitchen. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Coffee." Lorelai mumbled.

"What?"

"I need coffee first." She turned around to look at her daughter. "I heard you talking to me. No, not exactly. All I could hear was something like 'blah blah blah' which is a sign that I have no coffee in my blood. I need coffee, Rory! Lots of coffee!"

Suddenly the bird ran through the kitchen, "Stella! Ha, gotcha!" Rory piped up, triumphantly.

"Aaaaaah!"

"What?" Rory turned around with the bird in her hands.

"Where... is... the... coffee?"

"Empty? I'll put it on the list."

"Great beginning of a day. No coffeein, it's seven and I'm coffee-less, Rory. _Coffee-less_!"

Rory glanced at her watch, "Let's go to Luke's. I still have time."

"To Luke?"

"Yes Luke. You know him. The town's Luke, our coffee god, Mr. Backwards baseball cap, remember?"

"I know who Luke is." Lorelai shifted from one foot to the other.

"But?"

"But? I didn't say but."

"But it sounds if there's going to be a but."

"No, it's not."

"I'm not sure." Rory said, narrowing her brows.

"You better put Stella back into the cage." Lorelai pointed at the little bird in Rory's hands.

"And you get dressed."

"Yes, Muuuum!" Lorelai answered and headed upstairs into her bedroom.

--

They walked the stairs up to the Diner when Lorelai stopped abruptly and pulled on Rory's jacket, "Oh no, I forgot something."

"What?"

"I need something from the supermarket."

"And what?"

"You know... the thing."

"The thing?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of thing do you mean?"

"Rory!" Lorelai sighed.

"What? I want to know what kind of thing is more important than Luke's coffee. Especially for you." Rory asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just go inside. I'll be right back." Lorelai headed towards the supermarket.

"Okay!" Rory shrugged and entered the Diner.

Luke heard the bell and looked up from behind the counter, "Hey!" he said to Rory when she sat down in front of him.

"Hi Luke. Coffee please!" she pleaded, smiling.

"You know I have other things, too. Like tea, milk, hot chocolate, orange juice."

"No, coffee please!"

"It's unhealthy, Rory!"

"I know but I can't help myself. Addiction!" she shrugged, innocently.

"Yeah, like mother, like daughter." He grabbed a big mug and filled it with coffee, "So, you're alone today?"

"What? Oh, well... Mum wanted to buy something at the supermarket." She told him and reached for her coffee.

"Oh, okay. Doughnut?" he asked her, pointing at the plate with different kinds of Doughnuts.

"Yep. Chocolate, please!"

Luke put it on a plate and shoved it over to her, "So, will she come?"

"Who?" Rory looked up at him.

"Your mother."

"Oh, yeah.... she said so." Rory answered, "Why?"

"Just asking." He wiped the counter without looking at her.

"Uh-huh. No, I'm sure she'll come. We're outa coffee at home."

"Oh, okay!" Luke answered, giving her a small smile.

"Okay Luke, I gotta go." She took her purse out of her backpack but Luke stopped her.

"No, it's on the house!"

"Oh, thanks. Bye!" She took her Doughnut and hurried out of the Diner to get the bus when she pumped into her mother. "Mum! What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I have lots of powers but flying isn't one of them. My mistake!" Lorelai smirked.

"Very funny! I gotta go or I'll miss the bus."

"Bye hon." Lorelai said and watched her daughter running to the bus station. Then she turned around to look at the door to the Diner. Just a few more steps and she would get her lovely coffee. Slowly she walked up the stairs and put her hand on the knob to open the door when she changed her mind. _Luke_, she thought. _What I'm supposed to say to him_? She shook her hand and made a few steps back. _Coffee, Luke, coffee, Luke_. _Damn it!_

Luke watched her from behind the counter while he made more coffee. It hurt him that she was avoiding him. Was the kiss that bad? He didn't feel any struggle from her yesterday. The kiss felt right for him and he hoped she'd feel the same way.

He watched her for a few more minutes, fighting with her inner demons to enter the Diner or not. And suddenly their eyes met and his heart jumped. They looked at each other and Luke gave her a smile but she didn't return it. She looked down on her shoes nervously, before she turned round and walked towards the Independence Inn.

----

"Sookie, I need coffee!" Lorelai started when she entered the kitchen.

"Hi sweetie, it's ready and waiting for you." Sookie told her while she decorated one of her famous cream cakes.

"Thank god!" she said and filled herself a big mug full of black coffee.

"Look, this is one of my new creations. I made the cream like four times but now I'm satisfied. It's delicious. Please, try it and tell me what you think." She spooned some of the cream and held it out to Lorelai but she just sipped her coffee not aware of the things around her. "Hey, sweetie."

Now she looked up, "Yeah?"

"Is something wrong?" Sookie asked a bit worried.

"What? Oh no, the coffee is fine." She took another sip.

"I'm not talking about the coffee, hun."

"No?"

"Did something happen to Rory? Did you too have a fight?"

"No, no." Lorelai shook her head.

"Then you had a fight with Emily?"

"No."

"Hmm, then maybe with Luke?"

"No. Hey, you want me to try this cream, so gimme the spoon." She held her hand out for it.

Sookie looked at her suspiciously but gave her the spoon. "So, no fight with Luke?"

Lorelai shook her head again, "Mmhh, you're right. What is it made of, it's so delicious?"

"Thanks." Sookie grinned for a moment before she continued, "So, why you're avoiding the subject?" she asked with a wooden spoon in one hand and the other hand on her hip.

"I'm not." Lorelai protested

"Yes you are. Since I mentioned Luke. So?" Soukie asked again, raising her eyebrows.

"So what?"

"Ah, you were at Luke's yesterday, right?"

"Yeah, I showed him some colors for the Diner."

"Uh-huh. And?"

"It was fun. We talked, we laughed and then we..." Lorelai stopped and bit her lower lip, "I need more coffee!" she turned around and walked to the coffee machine.

"You did what? Don't give me half sentences here."

Lorelai turned to look at her and sighed, "Okay, we kissed!"

Sookie's eyes widened and her mouth fell open, "You did _what_?"

"I don't know. We sat there on the floor and then we kissed. No, actually he kissed me. Maybe I kissed him back, I'm not sure."

"Oh, sweetie. That's so cute!" Sookie said, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"Sookie!"

"What?" she grinned, "And? Was it a good kiss?"

"Did you hear what I was saying?"

"Yeah yeah, you and Luke made out, on the floor." Sookie said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Geez, I didn't say we made out, Sookie. We kissed, that's all." Lorelai repeated, sighing.

"Okay, got it. But you didn't answer my question. How was the kiss?"

"I don't... it was.... I think it was nice."

"Nice?"

"Yeah, nice. Or _really_ nice. But that's the problem." Lorelai said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I don't see a problem." Sookie said, confusing.

"Of course. It's Luke. _Luke_!!" Lorelai emphasised.

"I know and that's great. To be honest? I'm just surprised it took you so long."

"What are you talking about? Me and Luke... that's just ridiculous. We're friends and that's it." Lorelai explained.

"Sweetie, be honest with yourself."

"I am."

"You like Luke."

"Sure!"

"You like to have him around."

"Sure, he's my friend." Lorelai tried to explain.

Sookie nodded, "He's always there for you. In every situation. He helps you with everything, repairs you everything, no matter what time."

"I know. That's so nice of him, isn't it?"

"You do the same for him. When he needs help, you're there."

"That's what friends are for, right?"

She nodded again, "Then you kissed each other and you liked it." She reminded her.

"Yeah." Lorelai answered, hesitantly.

"See, think about that, Sweetie." She gave her a smile.

Michel came into the kitchen, "Telephone!" he said, holding out the phone to Lorelai.

"Who is it?"

"Your mother."

Lorelai rolled her eyes, "And it keeps getting better!" she muttered under her breath when she reached for the phone, "Hey Mum..."

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_To be continued... Please, R&R !! _


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for all your reviews! :) Well, I noticed that I have spelled Sookie wrong... lol ... I'm sorry! :p  
Oh yeah, and thanks GilmoreGirl1979 for your ideas. I hope we stay in touch via email, okay? So okay, here's the next chapter. _

_----_

**Chapter 3**

After work Lorelai went to Doosie's to buy some coffee. Once inside she saw Dean pile up some oranges into a pyramid. She walked over to him, "Hey Dean."

"Hi Lorelai." he greeted her with a smile.

"How's everything?"

"Good. Fine!" he glanced at the oranges.

"Taylor gave you some nice work to do, huh?"

"Yeah!" Dean shrugged, helplessly.

"Okay, I have to grab some coffee before I head back home."

"Okay! You know where you can find it, right?" Dean grinned.

"Sure. With closed eyes!" Lorelai assured him.

"Well, then!" he laughed.

She walked towards the shelves with coffee where she grabbed her favorite sort. With a smile on her face she turned around and ran into Luke.

"Luke!" she started, looking at him.

"Lorelai." Luke said and both stared at each other for a few seconds.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, nervously.

"I... I'm out of milk. You?"

"Coffee!" she told him.

"Ah." He smiled, "Lorelai, I think we..."

"I have to go now!" she interrupted him and walked back where she collided with the table of oranges. And a second later, all of them rolled through the supermarket.

"Lorelai, look what you've done!" Taylor came out from nowhere, standing now in front of Lorelai.

She just stood there, looking on the floor and back to Taylor , "That wasn't on purpose, Taylor ."

"The kids say that all the time but they think this is funny."

"It was an accident."

"I'll fix this in a minute." Dean bent down to pick them up.

"I'll help you."

"No, you don't have to."

"Really? It wouldn't be a problem, Dean." Lorelai said, avoiding Luke's gaze.

"Really!" Dean assured her with a smile.

"Okay, I'll go then."

"Yeah, bye!"

"Bye Dean!" she said and hurried out of the supermarket but Luke followed her.

"Lorelai!"

She didn't turn around when she heard him calling after her. She just headed towards her car.

"Could you wait, please?" Luke shouted, a little upset.

"Why?" she twirled around, looking at him.

"What is this all about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your running. Yesterday, this morning and now. You're avoiding me!"

"That's not true, Luke."

"And you've shoplifted." He said, looking at the coffee in her hand.

"What? Oh, you're right!" Lorelai shifted from one foot to the other. "Funny that Taylor isn't running after me." She remarked.

"Because I've paid for you."

"Oh, okay. How much was it? Three, four bucks?" she rummaged through her purse.

He stopped her when he grabbed her hand, "Lorelai, we need to talk."

"About what?"

"You know about what."

She shook her head, "Luke, I..."

"Please. Could you come to the diner this evening? I'm closing at eight."

Hesitantly, she looked at her hands and back into his eyes.

"You'll get a cup of coffee, too." He offered her a smile.

This made her laugh, "I hope so."

"Okay, see you then."

"Yeah, bye!"

---

Lorelai came home and leant against the door, closing her eyes. _What a day_, she thought, _and_ _not over yet_. She sighed and rubbed her temples, to make the headache go away but it was in vain. She slipped out of her shoes while she walked into the kitchen.

"Hi Stella…" she bent down to the cage, "…everything's fine? Fine, great! Yeah thanks, I'm fine too."

She turned around to make some coffee, "No actually I'm not. My day was horrible. Yours not I guess, huh? Well, good good. Just checking. You know what I did yesterday? No, well, I'll tell ya. I kissed Luke. _Luke_! You don't know him yet, I know. You'll meet him soon, I promise. But watch out, he can be a little grumpy sometimes." she smiled to herself.

"Oh, you ask me why I kissed him? No, he kissed _me_, little bird. Don't try to spin that." She spoke while she looked at the coffee machine, "Yeah, he kissed me and I'm not sure how I should think about that. Did I like it or not? I'm not sure. We're friends for so long now. And… god, he wants me to come to his diner today, talking about this."

She opened the fridge and closed it again as she realized that it was empty. Then she turned to the cage again, looking at Stella. "And now look at me. I'm talking to a bird. How pathetic am I? No offence, Stella!" The little bird started to chirp loudly.

"No no, don't start. My headache is bad enough." She sighed again when the bird didn't want to be quiet again. "Yeah, it was really nice talking to you, Stella. But now I'm taking a bath."

She filled a mug full of coffee and walked upstairs into the bathroom.

Rory sat in her room with a stunned expression on her face. The door to her room was open slighty, so that she overheard Lorelai's conversation with Stella. Now everything seemed to be so clear. Lorelai strange behaviour in the morning and how she avoided to go to Luke's for coffee. They really need to talk about this, she murmured to herself and waited for her mother to come down.

---

Forty five minutes later, Lorelai came down and saw Rory sitting on the couch, reading a book. Like always.

"Hey sweetie!"

"Hey Mum." She closed her book to look at her.

"I didn't know you're home already."

"Yeah, I've been home for a while." Rory told her.

"Oh okay. I took a rather long bath so that's why I couldn't hear you probably.

"Yeah. So, where're going?"

"Me? To Luke's. Why?" Lorelai asked, clearing her throat.

"Just wondering because you're all dressed up. I thought you're going on a date or something."

"Dressed up?" she looked down on her, "I'm not dressed up!"

"Then look at you. That's not your everyday outfit."

"Not?"

Rory shook her head, "So, is there something I should know about?" Rory asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know what you mean." She looked down on her feet.

"Oh, don't you? Well, then I'm going to help you a little. Hmmm, okay… you and Luke."

"What is with us?"

"Tell me."

"I don't know what…" Lorelai started.

"Muuuum, I know you kissed him yesterday." Rory pointed out.

"What? How? And hey, he kissed _me_. That's a big difference." Lorelai clarified with her hands on her hips.

"Is that so? Well, but you let him kiss you."

"I… I had no choice."

"Yeah, of course. He forced you." Rory grinned.

"Kind of." She commented, "But who told you about the kiss?"

"Well, you know… Stella and I don't have any secrets." She said, still grinning.

Lorelai's mouth dropped open, "You've eavesdropped!"

"Yeah, I confess!" Rory smiled, wickedly.

"You're definitely my daughter."

"I know. So, you go to Luke because?"

"He wants to talk."

"Uh-huh."

"And I'm not sure about what. I'm not even sure how i should think about this. I mean, he's my friend and everything but I didn't see this one coming. We looked at each other and then _bang_!"

"Bang!" Rory nodded.

"Yeah, _bang_." She sighed and grabbed her daughter's hands, "God Rory, what I'm supposed to do?"

"I can't tell ya what to do but take your time and think about everything. Luke will understand. I'm sure he does."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Okay, I go now.And I won't be home late." She told her daughter and grabbed her purse.

"Okay, have fun." She called after her.

---

Luke wiped the tables when Lorelai came into the diner. He looked up when he heard the bell, "Hey!"

"Hi." she said, closing the door behind her.

"I made fresh coffee in case you want a cup." He pointed to the coffee machine.

"Uh, yeah sure. Haven't reached my daily dose yet." She told him, smiling.

"Actually, this would be a good thing."

"Not for me!" she answered and walked behind the counter where she reached for a big mug and started to fill it with coffee.

"I can fix you a burger if you want." He said, already standing behind her.

She jumped when she felt him so close to her that half of the coffee was spilled all over the counter. "Ah, damn it!"

"Jesus!" he sighed, "Lorelai, what's wrong with you today?"

"Uhm, nothing. Just gimme some tissues or something." She looked around.

He filled her another cup of coffee. "Take this and sit down over there."

"But…" she protested.

"I'll clean this up. Just sit down." He shoved her away.

After Luke cleaned the counter, he joined Lorelai on the table and watched her sipping her coffee.

"What?" she said when she noticed he was watching her.

"Hm?"

"Why are you looking at me?"

"I don't look at you."

"Yes you do."

Luke looked down on this hands, "Uhm…Lorelai?"

"Yeah?"

After a minute of silence, he started, "You didn't like the kiss yesterday, did you?"

"Luke, uhm…" she put the coffee back on the table, "…it was nice."

"Nice." He echoed.

"Yeah and weird." She looked at him, seeing the disappointment in his eyes. "Luke…"

"No, it's okay. That's how you feel."

"You don't know how I feel."

"Then tell me."

"I can't because I don't know myself. I don't know how I should feel about this. I mean, it's _us_. You and I. Isn't it kind of weird for you, too?" Lorelai asked, carefully.

He put his hands on his baseball cap, breathing in heavily. "You wanna know how _I_ feel about this?"

Looking at him, she nodded reluctantly.

"Okay, well… I enjoyed our kiss. I really enjoyed this because I dreamt about this for so long. And then when I was so close to you yesterday and looked into your beautiful eyes, I… all I wanted to do was kiss you. That was all I could think about in this moment and then it really happened. It was like... like I was not myself and I couldn't control my body anymore. But I do _not_ regret it." he said, looking at her.

"Luke…"

"Oh God, I can't believe I told you this. You probably think I'm crazy."

"No, I do not." She studied him for a while, "Fact is, I've enjoyed our kiss, too. And that's the problem."

"You've enjoyed it, too?" he asked, smiling.

"Yeah…" she looked into his eyes and noticed how beautiful they are. _Stay focused_, she thought. "…and I don't understand…" Luke leant forward to her, "…why you're making me nervous because..." they moved closer, their lips nearly touching, "…because that's not supposed to happen… and..." her voice just above a whisper and her gaze still focused on him. And then it happened. Luke found her mouth and kissed her again. He felt the shudder running through her and lifted his hand to touch her cheek, softly. Both of their hearts were beating wildly and neither of them wanted to pull apart. They got lost into each other and the worries of the day slid away…

---

_To be continued.... and please, tell me what you think!!! Thank you! :) _


	4. Chapter 4

_Thanks for reviewing my story, guys. So I know that someone's reading my story! Hehe :) _

----

**Chapter 4**

Slowly they pulled apart. Lorelai opened her eyes to look at him, seeing a smile on his face.

"Totally deja-vu!" she finally spoke, a little out of breathe.

"Yeah!" Luke's eyes were still focused on her.

"And you did it again." She tilted her head, smiling.

"I'm so sorry." Luke's lips curved.

"You don't have to. It was nice."

"Nice again, huh?"

"Yeah, okay. Maybe it was more than nice."

"More than nice?" Luke echoed, grinning.

"No, let's say it was _amazing_." She smiled and bit her lower lip.

"Sounds good." He covered her hand with his, turned it over and ran his fingers down the center of her palm while he watched her face.

"I… I thought that…" she looked down at their hands and felt her pulse rising again. "Do you think uh… I mean, do you think this is right?"

"What do you mean?"

"This. You and I."

"We'll never know if we won't try it." Luke's mouth formed a smile.

"Maybe."

"Do you want to give it a try? I mean, give _us_ a try?" Luke asked, carefully.

_ God, I'll melt if he's going to look at me like this any loner_ , she thought and took in a breath.

"Luke...it's just... you're my coffee man, you feed me. What will happen if it doesn't work out?" Lorelai looked at him.

"Lorelai... don't..."

"Listen, I'm afraid. Our friendship means so much to me... and Rory. I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose _you_!"

"I don't want to lose you either but it doesn't change the fact that I..." Luke stopped and looked down.

"What?"

"That I have feelings for you." He acknowledged, hesitantly.

She smiled and looked down, "Oh really?"

"Yeah..." he nodded, slightly.

She looked up again and fixed her eyes on his. There was something on him that made her heart twist. The way he looked at her. With his bright blue eyes, his scruffy face and that smile, he was giving her. And only her.

"When do you want to do the paint session?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Uhm, I don't know. When do you have time?"

"Always." She said, smiling. "Except Friday night." She added.

"Yeah, I know."

"Did you chose a color so far?" she walked to the counter to get more coffee.

"I think I'll take those two colors you suggested yesterday." Luke's eyes stayed on her while she filled her mug with coffee again.

"Really?" she turned round and leaned against the counter. "But it's your Diner. You should use the colors you like."

"But I like them."

"Well then." She smiled, nervously. There was an awkward silence between them. "I think I should go now."

"I could fix us something to eat. A Burger or a sandwich. You want something?" he rose from his seat and walked towards her.

"No, I better go." She took her jacket and slipped into it.

"Okay. I'm glad you came."

"Yeah, I bet!" Lorelai grinned and walked to the door.

"Do I see you tomorrow?"

"Sure. You know I need my coffee!" she gave him a small smile.

"I heard about that."

"Good." With her hand on the door knob, she looked at him.

Hesitantly, Luke bent down and gave her a small kiss. "'Night."

"Bye!" she said and left the Diner to get into her car.

---

It was after ten when Lorelai arrived home. Rory sat in the living room, studying for school.

"Hey hun." Lorelai started and fell onto the couch beside her.

"Hi Mum."

"Can I have this?" she pointed at the piece of pizza on the table.

"Sure." Rory settled back onto the couch and watched Lorelai. "You didn't eat at Luke's?"

"Nope!" Lorelai answered shortly and bit into the pizza.

"Uh-huh. Well, you look happy. What happened?" Rory crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes still settled at her Mum.

"Mummy is hungry. So be a nice kid and let Mummy eat."

"Mummy could have eaten at Luke's. And now I'm wondering, why didn't she?"

Lorelai shrugged and made another bite.

"C'mon. Tell me." Rory pleaded.

"Well, we kissed again." She thought of Luke's soft and warm lips against hers and smiled.

"Really?"

Lorelai nodded, smiling.

"And what does that mean?"

"What?"

"The kiss. What does that mean? Do you want to be with him?" Rory asked, curiously.

"I... I don't know. Yeah, maybe." Lorelai smiled.

"What did Luke say?"

"He said we should give it a try."

"Wow. Mum, I don't know what to say."

"Neither do I. I just can say that our kiss was amazing and the way he looked at me..." Lorelai said, looking at her daughter.

"You're blushing." Rory giggled.

"No, I'm not... I'm just saying that..." Suddenly the phone rang and Lorelai stopped. "Can you pick up the phone? Mummy is eating."

Rory rolled her eyes but got up, when the answering machine went on.

"Lorelai, this is your mother. Pick up the phone if you're at home." Emily started.

"No no, don't!" Lorelai shook her head 'no'.

"But..."

"Don't. This will ruin my mood. I know it will." Lorelai looked at her daughter, pleading.

"Okay..."

"It's late, so why you're not at home? You have a job, you can't stay up that late, Lorelai." Emily continued.

"God. How old am I? Twelve?" Lorelai gave Rory an annoyed look.

"Anyway, call me back. But not today. Your father and I are going to bed now. Call me tomorrow morning." Emily finished and ended the call.

"What if it was something important?" Rory asked.

"Oh, please." Lorelai got up and headed towards the stairs.

"But you'll call her back tomorrow, will you?" Rory said, walking after her.

"Yeah...." Lorelai said, sighing.

---

_Next morning... _

"You sure, you want to go to Luke's?" Lorelai asked Rory the next morning on their way to the Diner.

"Yes."

"Because we could do something different today. It's been a long time we were at 'Al's Pancake World'. she reminded her.

"If you don't want to go to Luke, just say something."

"No, why shouldn't I?"

"I don't know."

"See. I have no problem with that." Lorelai said, shrugging.

"Good, then let's go." Rory walked up the stairs to the Diner. Lorelai followed her. "Counter?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, why not." They sat down and waited until Luke came back from behind.

"Cesar, two chocolate pancakes and an Omelette with ham and cheese." Luke shouted over his shoulder before he turned round and saw Lorelai and Rory at the counter. "Oh, hey!" he smiled.

"Hey." Lorelai greeted him with a smile.

"Hi Luke!" Rory started, "I'll take a coffee and a Danish. And you, mum?"

Lorelai was still looking into Luke's eyes, "Uhm, what? Oh, coffee and... and... pancakes."

"Like always?" he asked and Lorelai nodded.

"Okay..." Luke filled two mugs with coffee and gave Rory a Danish. "Cesar, pancake with chocolate and cream."

Suddenly Lorelai's cell phone rang and she rolled her eyes when she saw that it was her mother, "Oh no!" She said frowning.

"You have to talk to her today, Mum. But don't forget..." Rory pointed at the 'no cell phone' sign behind Luke.

"No, it's okay." Luke told her, smiling.

"Really?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks." A smile covered her face which slowly faded when she took the call, "Hey Mum."

"Lorelai, why didn't you call me back?" Emily started.

"It's past eight. I would have called you."

"I told you to call me in the morning. I'm awake for 2 hours, waiting for your call."

Lorelai pressed her fingers to her eyes, "The morning hast just begun. I still have plenty of time, you know?"

"But _I_ haven't because we're leaving in twenty minutes."

"Leaving? Where? " Lorelai asked, catching Rory's glare.

"London. You're father insisted on visiting your grandmother." Emily told her.

"Oh, that's... that's great."

"Don't be sarcastic, Lorelai. I know it's going to be horrible because this woman is making me crazy."

"How long will you stay?"

"Sunday afternoon."

"Oh, so there's going to be no friday night dinner." Lorelai asked, happily.

"Of course not. And it makes you happy, doesn't it? Because it's so horrible eating dinner with your parents." Emily said, offended.

"No mum, I didn't say that..."

"But I know what you're thinking. Just want to let you know that there're going to be two dinners next week. You're father is calling me. I have to go now!" Emily said and ended the call.

"Uaaah..." Lorelai shoved the cell back into her purse.

"What?" Rory asked, frowning.

Lorelai took a big sip of her coffee before she started, "Your grandparents are going to London, visiting Trix. And now your grandma is upset because she doesn't want to. She accused me of being happy because there's no dinner on friday. Can you believe this?"

"How can she?" Rory tried to give her mother a shocked expression.

"And now there're two dinners next week."

"No!"

"Yes!" Lorelai said, nodding.

"Unbelievable. So, we're free on friday?" Rory.

"Yep. What shall we do? Any suggestions?" Lorelai asked Rory, when Luke gave her the plate with pancakes.

"Would you be mad if I sleep at Lane's?"

"Uhm... no... ." she looked at her plate and started to eat.

Rory turned to Luke, "Luke, are you free on friday night?"

"What?" Luke asked, while he wrote something down.

"Yes Luke, we can start painting the Diner. What do you say?" Lorelai started.

Hesitantly, Luke put his notebook away and looked at her. "Yeah, we can do that..."

"Okay. Good." Lorelai answered, smiling before she continued eating.

----

_To be continued...  
So, how did you like this chapter? Maybe it was a bit boring but it's going to be better. And if you have any suggestions, just throw it my way...lol :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks for all your sweet comments. And thanks to GilmoreGirl1979. It's fun discussing ideas with you via email! :D _

**Chapter 5**

"Uaaah… Luke!" Lorelai shouted out of breath, carrying a box full of paint utensils.

Luke came back from the kitchen, "What's all this?" he said, placing the box on the counter.

"Well, very important things. Different kind of brushes, rollers, tarps… I don't know, a lot of stuff we're going to need, says Lonnie from the market." Lorelai said, nodding.

"Uh-huh…well, if Lonnie says so." Luke looked into the box, "But didn't you forget anything?"

"Anything?" Lorelai raised her eyebrow.

"Something important? We have brushes and rollers but what do we do with them without…"

"Aaah… the paint."

"Exactly."

Lorelai pointed to the dozen of cans right in front of the Diner, "All here and waiting for a strong man to bring them in." Lorelai offered him a grin. "Do you know one?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe?" Lorelai shook her head, "Wrong answer."

"Don't you think you bought too much paint?"

"Too much? Nooo… you can never buy too much of anything."

Luke rolled his eyes, "Says who?"

"Me!" Lorelai pointed at herself.

"I thought as much." He walked behind the counter again.

"So, when do you close?"

He glanced at his watch, "Don't know. Maybe earlier. It's kind of empty anyway at the moment."

Lorelai turned her head and saw Kirk sitting on a table all alone. "What about Kirk?" she asked, turning back to Luke.

"He's sitting there for three hours already. A glass of orange juice was all he ordered." Luke told her.

"Really? He looks sad. Did you ask why he's sitting there the whole afternoon, staring into the space?"

"No. What am I? His shrink? I have no time for this." He threw the towel over his shoulder and proceeded to clean the tables.

"Kirk. Everything okay?" Lorelai walked over to him.

Kirk looked up at her. "No!"

"Oh, why not?"

"My blind date didn't show up."

"You had a blind date?" Lorelai asked, curiously.

"Kind of. Yeah. We talked in this chat room almost every day and then she asked if we could go for a drink. I said, why not and so we send us pictures of each other. I'm all dressed up and have a new haircut, all for her. And now, I'm sitting here for three hours and she doesn't show up."

"I wonder why." Luke mumbled while he was wiping the tables.

"I heard that. " Kirk said.

"Good."

"I'm really sorry, Kirk. But call her. Do you have her number?"

"Unfortunately not. I gave her mine."

"Bad thing."

"Yeah, it's okay. It's always like that. I'm getting used to it." He got up, "I heard you want to close earlier. So it really happens today? The _big_ change?"

"Yeah" Luke said, nodding.

"I was wondering if you need help. I painted a few buildings in Stars Hollow the last year." Kirk offered.

"No, thanks" Luke said, shortly.

"Okay, just asking. Bye Luke. Bye Lorelai." Kirk said, before he left the Diner.

"Bye. Awww… poor Kirk." Lorelai started and turned to Luke. "So, where's this strong man you're talking about earlier?" she gave him a smile.

"Just left the Diner." Luke smirked.

"_Ha-ha!_ Very funny, Mister backwards baseball cap." she said, with her hands on her hips. "Could you bring them in? I'll start covering everything with the tarps." Lorelai suggested.

"Yeah okay." Luke went outside and dragged the cans of different colors into the Diner.

"You know, I was wondering…" she started but stopped as she took off her sweater.

"What?" Luke put the cans on the counter and looked at her. He noticed her light blue shirt with the 'hot chica' print on it and all he could do was smile.

"If you have a CD player down here because I brought some CDs."

"Uhm…yeah, I think Cesar has one in the kitchen." he told her, putting the chairs onto the table.

"Okay, cool." She walked into the kitchen and came back with the CD player. She set it down onto the counter and put in her CD. Then they covered everything with the tarps until they were ready to paint.

"So, where do we start?" Lorelai asked with a roller in her hand.

"I'll start with the wall over there."

"Good desicion." Lorelai nodded. "It's the smallest."

"Ha-ha." Luke laughed and started painting.

She watched him for a while, grinning. "Uhm, what do you think you're doing, Mister?"

Luke stopped and turned round, "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you do it wrong."

"I do _what_ wrong?"

"The way you're rolling the roller. It's not right."

"Lorelai…"

"Listen to me, because _I'm_ an expert." Lorelai stated.

"Are you. Really!" Luke nodded, "Then let me see."

"Sure, buddy. Watch and learn." She took the roller out of his hand, dipped it into the paint and rolled it up and down the wall. "See. That's the way it's supposed to be." She glanced over her shoulder to look at him and found him staring at her with a quiet intensity.

He was watching every single movement she did. He found it both relaxing and entertaining to look at her. So he hooked his thumbs in his front pockets and did just that.

After a while, he started. "So, let me see if I got that right." He stepped up behind her and grabbed her hand, painting together with her. "Is that right?"

"Uhm…" she shuddered when she felt his body so close to her, "…yeah." She turned her head so that she could meet his eyes.

"I'm a fast learner." Luke said and smiled at her.

"Indeed." She smiled back at him, nervously. "So, now that you're a professional yourself…" she slowly eased back from him, "…I leave you alone with your wall because… because I get too much distracted over here."

"How comes?" Luke asked with amusement and watched her go to the other side of the Diner where she started to paint.

After a while she stopped and turned to look at him, found him staring at her again. "Hey, I didn't say we can take a break."

"I'm not taking a break."

"Funny because I have the impression that you do nothing. That's your plan? Leaving all the work to me? So that's your thank that I was all willing to help you with your Diner?" she pouted.

"Is it that obvious?" Luke asked, laughing.

"Yes, you're an open book. So transparent." She pointed with a finger at him. "Bad bad Luke!"

"I'm not bad. Just a man. " He countered, smiling.

"Yes, you are. And being a _man_ is no excuse."

"Yes it is. And no, I'm not."

"Yes you are." Lorelai repeated again, trying to hide a grin.

"No." he shook his head, laughing.

"Don't laugh. I'm serious. You… you're bad… or evil? I can't decide because I'm not sure which word fits better with your shirt. Does the devil wear flannel? Maybe I'll use both. Yes, that's it. Both. And I'm going to think of a new nickname for you. What about "Mister I'm-always-grumpy-and…."

_ SPLASH!! _

Lorelai looked at her shirt and her mouth fell open. "Luke!"

"Yeah?" he said, ever so innocently.

"_Now_ you're _really_ in trouble, Mister." She took one of the brushes, dipped it into the paint and splashed back at him.

"Lucky strike, that's all!" he said, indicating the paint on his flannel shirt.

"So, now you're not only a half devil, you're mean too. That's it." She dipped the brush into the paint again and headed towards him.

"Lorelai, what are you doing?" Luke mad a few steps back.

"Why?"

"Stay away from me. " He said laughing, holding out a hand.

But it was too late. The brush landed on his face, leaving a blob of paint on his cheek.

Lorelai giggled, "Gotcha!"

"Woah, ooookay! So you really want this?"

"What?" she asked grinning. And now it was her turn to make a few steps back.

"You're _so_ going to beg for mercy when I'm done with you." His lips twitched into an amused smile while he headed towards her.

"What? Luke! Don't do anything stupid." She saw the determined look in his face. "Luke…" she walked around the table to bring some space between them. "I said, _don't_!" she added laughing.

"Don't _what_?"

"Don't do what... whatever you're going to do because…"

"Because?"

"I swear I'll scream." She ran away from him, still laughing.

"Really?" he shrugged, "I don't care." He dipped the brush into the color again

"No no no no! You and your brush, stay away from me! Please!"

"See, you're begging already. But it's too late!" he said and began to chase her through the Diner, around the tables and the counter, while they were splashing more and more paint onto each other.

Suddenly Lorelai stumbled over a can of paint and both of them landed on the floor. Lorelai landed on her back with Luke on top of her.

They were still laughing when Lorelai began, "Was that really necessary?"

"Landing on top of you? Yeah, better than on the hard floor." Luke laughed.

"Ha-ha, that's not what I meant." She answered grinning.

"You're dirty!"

"Yeah, something tells me that I'm not the only one here."

"Well, then…" he said and they looked at each other for a while.

"Luke…"

"Yeah?"

"You're heavy…maybe you could…"

"Oh, sure. I'm sorry." He rolled off her on his back, trying to catch his breath again.

She sat up and grinned. "God, look at us. We're _dirty_!"

"You said that already."

"No, I mean _really_ dirty." She touched her hair and noticed that she had paint in it, too. "And my hair. I must look horrible."

"No, you're not."

"Sure, nice try!" she answered, grinning.

"Really!" Luke sat up too and reached his hand up to her cheek. "See, it's just color."

The simple touch of him caused a quick bounce of her heart. She closed her eyes and didn't tug his hand away.

He decided to let it rest there for a while when he felt her leaning into his touch. Slowly she opened her eyes again and smiled at him. _God, how he loved that smile._

Before she could say anything he rubbed his lips over hers, ever so softly. Somehow she was sliding into the kiss without a single murmur of protest. So he kissed her again. Slower and deeper this time until she was helpless to resist and threw her arms around his neck to drew him closer to her. And somehow she noticed how much she wanted this. She wanted _him_. Luke.

After they pulled apart, Lorelai whispered. "Hi."

"Hi yourself."

"Tell me why do we always end up like this?" she asked smiling.

"Well, seems like you can't let your hands off me." Luke responded and toyed with a strand of her hair.

"Sure, that's it." Lorelai said, laughing. "Okay, I think we should go back to work here."

"Probably, yeah!"

Both got up and Lorelai looked around, "See, and you were afraid I bought to much paint!" she grinned before she took the roller and continued with her work.

_To be continued...  
How did you like this chapter? :) Please R&R! _


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"So, how do you like it?" Lorelai asked Luke when they finished painting the Diner.

Luke looked around and nodded, "Yeah, I like it."

"You better do. It took us more than three hours." She told him with her hands on her hips and her lips twitched into a smile.

"No, I really like it." He met her eyes, a smile playing across his features.

"Good. I like it, too. There're a few more things we could change. New mugs, shelves, tables or cur..." But suddenly Luke bent down and silenced her with a kiss.

When they pulled apart, Lorelai continued. "...tains. What was that for?"

"For persuading me, helping me, being here and... for everything. Thank you!"

"Oh, you're welcome." Lorelai tilted her head and smiled. She stared at him for a moment before she continued. "Luke, I was wondering..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna watch a movie at home. You wanna join me?"

"Uhm... I..."

Please!" she said, her mouth forming a pout.

"Yeah, why not. I just take a quick shower, okay?"

"Sure." Lorelai plucked at his shirt. "You really need one." She said, grinning.

"And something tells me I'm not the only one." Luke glanced at her shirt, "_Dirty_ Hot Chica."

"What?"

Smiling, Luke pointed at her shirt.

"Oh, yeah. It was your fault. You started it, Mister." She poked a finger on his chest.

"But you deserved it."

Lorelai's mouth fell open, "I did _not_!"

"Sure you did."

"Noooo..." she shook her head, her curls twirling.

Luke smiled when he looked at her. "Whatever. I can lend you one of my shirts if you want."

"Then I would have to come upstairs with you."

"Yes."

Lorelai raised her eyebrows out of surprise. "I never was upstairs."

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

"Probably, yeah."

"Good, come..." he headed upstairs into his small apartment, Lorelai followed him.

"So, that's where you live."

"Yeah" Luke watched her while she roamed his apartment. "I know it's kinda small."

"But you have everything you need. I like it." She shifted his gaze back to him. "You look uncomfortable. Maybe I shouldn't come upstairs with you."

"No, it's okay. I asked you to." He gave her a small smile. "Over there's the closet. Just take what you want. I'll be right back." He told her and walked into the bathroom.

Lorelai stood there and watched when Luke closed the bathroom door behind him.

Smiling, she looked around. It was really small but it looked comfortable, she thought and headed towards the closet. And she wasn't really astounded when she found flannel shirts in every color. Red, blue, green, brown and many more. A few sweaters, jeans and a suit. She pictured Luke in a white shirt and black suit and smiled. She really wanted to see him in one of them one day.

With a glance back to the bathroom, she slipped out of her shirt and changed into one of Luke's flannel shirts. Of course it was too big but she didn't care. She plopped on the bed and buttoned it. _Mmhh, it smelled of Luke._ She smelled on it once. Twice. And closed her eyes. _Luke and his flannel shirts and baseball caps,_ she thought and grinned.

A few minutes later, Luke came out of the bathroom. Clad in a pair of jeans and a blue flannel. Like always, she noticed.

"I took one of your shirts." She said grinning and lifted herself from the bed.

Luke smiled at the sight of her. She stood in his apartment, the shirt over her knees and the sleeves way too long. "You look good in my shirt."

"Thank you! Though I'm afraid we don't have the same size." She tilted her head and her lips twitched to a slow smile.

"You could be right."

"But it feels good. Now I know why you're wearing them all the time. So, can we go now?"

"Sure. Let's go!"

** xxxxxxx **

"Do you think she saw us?" Luke asked when they entered the kitchen from the backdoor.

"I don't know. Babette has her eyes everywhere but we were pretty careful, were we? Lorelai asked while she headed into the living room.

"Yeah, aside from you stumbling over the stairs." Luke laughed, following her.

"Hey, it's dark and I couldn't see anything."

"I know, I know. And I was there to catch you. It was a pleasure." Luke gave her a smile.

Lorelai turned around to meet his eyes, "Thank you." She lifted her left shoulder smiling and fumbled with the sleeves of Luke's flannel shirt, she was wearing. "I... uhm... now it's my turn to take a shower."

"Okay."

"You... you can chose a movie in the meantime. They're in the closet under the TV. I'll be right back." She said and hurried up the stairs.

Luke put the bags onto the small table in the living room and took out the food he brought from the Diner. A Burger and fries for Lorelai and a salad for him. He still had no clue why she liked this unhealthy food so much, he thought shaking his head.

Then he bent down in front of the TV, contemplating the movie collection they had. Since he didn't really now any if them, he just grabbed one and put it into the VCR. Then he sank onto the sofa, waiting for Lorelai to come down again.

**xxxxxxx **

"I really hope you're aren't asleep already." Lorelai started when she came down the stairs.

"Nah. Of course not." He turned his head to look at her. She was wearing white jogging pants and a blue shirt with straps. Her hair was still wet.

"What kind of movie did you chose?" she asked, perching on the sofa next to him.

"I don't know." Luke shrugged.

"You don't know?" Lorelai repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Well then, let's see." She took the remote control and pressed the play button. "Luke... nice choice." She looked at him, smiling.

"What? Why?"

"That's '_Gone with the wind'_. Something really romantic and heartbreaking."

"Oh no. Really?"

"Yep. You'll like it."

"If you say so." Both settled back on the sofa, their shoulders touching.

At the same time they looked at each other, holding their gaze for a moment. She gave him a smile and started hesitantly. "You want something to drink?"

"Uhm yeah."

"Okay, I'll be..." Lorelai was about to get up when she plunged back onto the sofa. "...right back. Oh god." She reached up on her neck and rolled her shoulders carefully.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just get my muscle bounded, I guess."

"Oh, okay. Turn around." Luke said.

"What?"

"Turn around." He repeated and waited until she had her back to him.

"You don't have to do this, Luke."

"I know." He brushed her hair over one shoulder and started to rub the back of her neck, gently.

"God, Luke..." she said, closing her eyes.

"Yeah?"

"You have... you have magic hands. Keep on rubbing!"

"Yes, Madame." he said, grinning and ran his fingers over her smooth skin.

Her lips curved as he continued and he could feel her tensed muscles relax.

"Better?" Luke whispered into her ear.

"Absolutely!" she said and let out a content sigh.

"I'm glad." Helpless to resist, he leaned closer and smelled at her hair. At her skin. Slowly he rubbed his lips over her right shoulder, ever so softly. This made her body shudder.

"I really hope I don't have to pay extra for this?" she tilted her head to one side to give him better access.

"No, it's included." He grinned.

"Good to know." She reached behind his neck to drew him closer before she turned her head to look at him. He smiled and lowered his head, his lips crushing down on hers. Soft and gentle at the beginning before her lips became more demanding. More passionate.

"Oh god." She managed when she could breath again. "Watch out. I could probably get used to this."

"Same here." He nudged her around to look at her before they kissed again.

And totally forgotten was the movie and the food in front of them.

**xxxxxxxxx**

_to be continued.... please tell me what you think!! R&R! _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

_Next morning... _

"What was that your mother offered us for breakfast?" Rory asked and wrinkled her nose when they left Lane's house.

"Soy bread." Lane told her.

"God, and can't believe I ate that."

"Well, I have to eat that everyday." Lane frowned.

"No, you mean you're _pretending_ to eat it."

"Rory, you know that's not possible when my mum watches me during breakfast."

"Oh. Yeah, you could be right then." Rory rubbed her stomach. "I need coffee. _Now_!"

They crossed the street, when they saw a crowd of people in front of Luke's Diner.

"Kirk, what's this about?" Rory asked him.

"The Diner is closed."

"What? But it's past eight." She looked at Lane and back to Kirk.

"Who you're telling this. I stand here for almost two hours already. And I need my pancakes."

"Is there a message or something?"

Kirk shook his head, "No. Just the 'closed' sign."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure Luke has his reasons."

"Where do I get my pancakes now?" Kirk asked.

Lane shrugged, "I'm sorry."

"Be brave Kirk." Rory patted on his shoulder.

** xxxxxx **

They entered the house and headed straight into the kitchen for coffee. "Seems like my Mum is still asleep. You want coffee, too?"

"Uhm, Rory!" Lane whispered bewildered.

"What?" Rory stopped and turned around when she saw Luke and Lorelai sleeping on the couch. "Oh my god."

Luke was laying behind Lorelai and had his arm protectively around her. Their fingers linked.

"You didn't tell me..." Lane started, whispering.

"There's nothing to tell." Rory walked to the sofa and tapped on her mother's shoulder.

"Luke, no. It's too early." Lorelai mumbled and pulled his arm closer around her.

"Mum!"

A second later, Lorelai opened her eyes and looked at her daughter. Her expression confused. "Oh god, Rory!" she noticed Luke's arm around her and tugged it away to sit up. "It's not what it looks like."

"Lorelai..." Luke murmured and tried to pull her back to him.

"Oh really? Then how does it look like?"

"It's uhm..." suddenly she perceived Lane, "...Lane."

"Hey Lorelai." Lane waved at her, smiling.

"That's not happening." She pressed her fingers to her eyes. "What time is it?"

"8.30 am ."

"What? Oh god." She turned round to Luke to wake him up. "Luke!"

Slowly he stirred and mumbled something when she tried it again, "Luke…"

"Hmm?" he opened his eyes and smiled, pulling Lorelai down into a gentle kiss. "Hi."

"Morning Luke!" Rory threw in.

"Rory!" he jumped and sat up straight. And it didn't take long when he saw Lane, too. "Geez. What's going on here? Town meeting or what?"

"Your Diner, Luke. You have to open your Diner."

Luke glanced at his watch, "Goddamn it!" he got up and picked his cap up from the floor. "Why is it that late? We were watching this movie and…"

"…then we fell asleep." Lorelai finished.

"Apparently." He put on his baseball cap. "I should go now!" he said and looked at her.

"Okay." she started, smiling. "Yesterday was nice."

"Really nice." Luke emphasized and slanted a look at Rory and Lane. Their presence made him a little uncomfortable. "Do I… uhm… do I see you later?"

"Sure." Lorelai nodded.

"Okay. I'm looking forward to it." He whispered and walked to the door.

"Luke."

"Yeah?"

"Backdoor. Babette. Remember?"

"Oh, right. Sorry I forgot." They walked past Rory and Lane into the kitchen.

Lorelai hesitated and pulled him into a small kiss. "Bye!"

"Bye!" he smiled and closed the door behind him.

Then she walked back into the living room, shifted her gaze at Rory and Lane before she headed upstairs.

"Won't you tell me what's going on here?" Rory started, following her mother upstairs.

"Not yet, Rory. I'm late." Lorelai told her and headed towards her closet, rummaging through her clothes.

"It's just. I'm away for a night and you and Luke seemed to be… well, is it serious between you now?" Rory asked, watching her mother.

"What do you think about this skirt?"

"It's nice. Mum…"

"Yeah but does it go with this blouse?" she took her blue one out of the closet. "The red one would be nice too and it'd go with my new boots. They're fabulous." Lorelai scratched her head.

"Red blouse, black skirt and what color are those boots?" Lane asked and Rory shot her an annoying look. "What? I'm just trying to help."

"Yeah and I appreciate that." Lorelai nodded, "They're black."

"Good."

"So, now that we've solved this…." She turned back to Lorelai. "Is it serious with you and Luke."

Lorelai looked at Rory and sighed, "Well…"

"You know we have rules, do you? "

"What do you mean?"

"You made them. _No men_ in the house."

"Yeah, but it's just Luke." Lorelai told her.

"And Luke's not a man?"

"Hmm, well… what I know, he definately is." Lorelai grinned, biting her lower lip. When she noticed her daughters look she sat down on the bed, "Look, you know we've painted the Diner yesterday. Then I asked him to join me for a movie. He said yes. We watched 'Gone with the wind' and must have fallen asleep. That's it." Lorelai smiled when she thought back what else happened on the couch.

"I know that look."

"What?" she asked, ever so innocently.

"Your look when you're talking about Luke. I can almost see a glow around you."

"A glow?" Lorelai laughed.

"Yes." Then she studied her mother suspiciously. "You have feelings for him, right? _Real_ feelings. "

"What? Uhm… I…" she played with her fingers, trying to hide a grin.

Lane's eyes grew wide, "Lorelai, is that true?"

"Well… maybe…"

"Awww, that's so great!" Lane sat down next to Lorelai and grinned.

"Yes it is. The way he looks at me…" she sighed, smiling. "…makes me forget everything around me."

Rory smiled, "So, do we get our coffee for free now?"

"You bet." Lorelai got up, "Okay kids. I _really_ have to get ready here."

"Sure okay." Lane said and Lorelai headed into the bathroom.

** xxxxxx**

"Yes I understand what you're saying." Michel stood behind the reception desk, talking to one of the guests on the phone. "Yes, I got that too." He looked up when Lorelai came in and watched her hurrying behind the desk. "Yes. Yes. I understand." He took a glance at his watch and frown. "No. Uh-huh. Of course I'm trying to help you." He rubbed his temples. "Yes. Yes. Okay. Bye!" he ended the call and turned to Lorelai. "You're late."

"I know."

"You know what today is?"

"Well, today is... uhm... Saturday?" Lorelai smirked and looked through the mail.

"Very funny. Don't tell me you forgot the dinner for the art association tonight."

"Dinner? Who booked a dinner for tonight and didn't tell me?" Lorelai asked puzzled.

Michel leafed through the reservation book, "Ah, that would be you."

"What?" she grabbed the book, "You're right. That's my handwriting."

"Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"God, it totally slipped my mind. Fifty people and I haven't planned anything yet. Okay, I have to talk to Sookie about the menu. Could you check if we have enough clean tablecloths? If not, call Manny. And talk with the waiters about the arrangement of the tables, so that we know which and how many flowers we gonna need. And…" she thought for a moment, "…that's all for now."

"Thank god."

Lorelai looked over her shoulder when she headed towards the kitchen, giving him a faked smile. "I'll be right back."

**xxxxxxx **

It was 10pm when Lorelai arrived at home. She walked into the kitchen and found Rory's door open. So she peeked around the doorframe and found her sitting on the bed, reading a book.

"Hey." Lorelai said and sank onto the bottom of the bed.

"Hi. You're late." She put the book down and looked at her mum.

"I know. And I'm so dead." She fell down on the bed and closed her eyes.

"How was the dinner? Everything went fine?"

"Yes. Wait, no. Michel had some kind of dispute with one of the association members."

"About what?"

"He told Michel what a funny accent he has. You know Michel doesn't like it when people criticize him about his articulation. And that's how it began." She sighed, "Oh god, I'm starving."

"Have you had dinner?"

Lorelai shook her head, "No lunch, no dinner . I think I'm dying."

"You haven't eaten anything the whole day?"

"Well, Sookie wanted me to try her mushroom soup. Yeah, that's it."

"Wow. Okay, there should be some leftover Chinese food in the fridge."

"Okay." She sat up, "Would you mind to carry me upstairs into my bed?" she looked at her daughter, pouting.

"You're a big girl. You can go on your own."

"Well, I know that but my feet don't see it the same way."

"Go to bed, mum."

She sighed again, "Okay, 'Night."

"Good night."

She closed the door to Rory's room and took a box of Chinese food out of the fridge before she headed upstairs. After a quick shower she changed into Luke's flannel shirt and laid down on her bed.

She wasn't able to see Luke the whole day though she promised to come to the Diner for lunch. But because of all the work she had with the planning of the dinner, she had absolutely no time. Not even to call him. And now she felt bad about it. Really bad. Maybe it was ridiculous, she thought, but she really missed him. It wasn't the first time that she hadn't seen him for a day but now it seemed to be different because _they_ are different. But she liked that. And she knew it was a good thing.

Smiling, she grabbed the phone from her nightstand and totally unaware of the current time she dialed Luke's number.

After the fourth ring, Luke answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Oh, hey."

"I'm sorry, I haven't thought about the time. Did I wake you up?"

"No. I was in bed but I didn't sleep." Luke told her, looking at his watch.

"Oh okay." She stopped for a moment before she continued, "Luke, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I promised you to come to the Diner."

"It's okay."

"You know, we had this event planned for today at the hotel, which totally slipped my mind. And then I was busy the whole day with the organization and everything. I just came home twenty minutes ago."

"Then you had a rough day, huh?"

"You could say so." She said and smelled on the shirt she was wearing. "How was your day?"

"Fine."

"Something interesting happened?"

"Well, the usual things. I poured coffee, made sandwiches and grilled burgers. Stuff like that."

"Sounds good." She said, laughing.

"Ah well, I forgot something."

"What? That you threw Taylor out of your Diner?" she asked, grinning.

"No." he hesitated a moment. "I missed you."

"Aww…" this made her smile, "…well, I missed you too."

"Me or my coffee?" Luke asked, laughing.

"Hmmm... both, but I missed you a little bit more."

"A little bit?"

"Yep."

"How much is that?"

"So much that I'm wearing your shirt at the moment." She looked down on her and smiled.

"Really? That's an honor, I guess."

"Yeah, it should be. And... I think i'm going to keep it."

"Who says you can?"

"Well, I said that."

"Okay." A smile covered his face. "I'll see you tomorrow then, right?"

"You bet."

"Bye Lorelai."

"Bye." She said and put the phone back on her nightstand. With a smile she turned to the side and slowly drifted off to sleep.

**xxxxxx**

_to be continued..._  
_Please tell me what you think. Oh and I promise the next chapter is going to be better. wink to Debbie :D _


	8. Chapter 8

_Aww, thank you for your sweet replies. Okay, here's the next chapter. Enjoy! :)_

**xxxxxxx **

**Chapter 8**

_ Next morning at the Diner_

Kirk entered the Diner and looked around before he walked up to the counter. "Wow, Luke. I like the new colors of your Diner."

"Thanks Kirk. Coffee?" Luke said.

"No, thanks." He answered and sat down at the counter, starting to read the newspaper.

Luke watched him for a moment, "What can I get you, Kirk?"

"What?" Kirk looked up. "Oh, nothing. Thanks."

"What do you mean, _nothing_? You can't just sit there. You have to order something."

"Maybe later."

"Not later. _Now_!" Luke told him, matter of factly.

"Easy. Uhm okay, I'll take a glass of water."

"Water?"

"You wanted me to order something, and I did."

"Okay okay." Luke filled him a glass of water and placed it onto the counter before he brought the ordered food to the tables, totally unaware of the person who just entered the Diner.

"Hey stranger!" Luke heard a voice behind him and turned round. Even before he was able to say something, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a deep kiss.

_ What the hell_ , he thought and pulled apart, looking around nervously. "Rachel?"

"Hey." She said smiling and was about to kiss him again but Luke stopped her.

"Rachel, what… what are you doing here?"

"I realized how much I missed you, so I jumped into the next plane and voila, here I am." She grinned and looked at him with bright eyes.

He still couldn't believe it. Rachel was back. _His_ Rachel. "You… you missed me?"

"I always did. Judging by your look _you_'re not glad to see me."

"What? No no, of course I am."

"Good to know." She studied him for a moment, "You look good."

"Yeah, you… you look good, too."

"You still live upstairs?" she pointed at the door behind the curtain.

"Yes, why?"

"Good." She picked up her bag and headed towards the stairs.

"Rachel, what are you doing?" Luke followed her.

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him. "I told you I'm back. Do you still have this small bed of yours?" Entering his apartment, she continued, "Oh yes, you have. Okay, this shouldn't be a problem. Actually, it never was."

"What? You want to stay _here_? With _me_? In _my_ apartment?"

"Sure." She told him, shrugging.

"Rachel, look. We need to talk."

"Yes, we can do that. There's so much I want to tell you. About my job, my family and what I did the all those years." She sighed, happily. "What do you say about a little trip?"

"A trip?"

"Yes. We could go roller skating. We always went roller skating, remember?"

"Of course I remember, but I have a Diner to run."

"Well, you're your own boss, which means you don't have to work all the time. I'm sure there's someone who can stand in for you the rest of the day." Rachel said, smiling.

"It's not that easy, Rachel."

"I want a trip. You wanted to talk. We can do that. Let's combine those two, hm?"

Luke looked at Rachel and sighed. Suddenly he thought about Lorelai and the phone call they had yesterday. What would she say when she'll come to the Diner and couldn't find him? This would be another day without seeing her. And it almost felt ridiculous as he realized how much he missed her. Her pleading for coffee, her wonderful smile or simply looking into her beautiful eyes. But he needed to talk to Rachel in private to clarify all misunderstandings. The sooner, the better.

"Hey Luke? You're still with me?" Rachel pulled him out of his thoughts and touched his cheek.

"What?"

"Where are you with your thoughts? Did you hear what I was saying?"

"No. I mean, okay… let's make the trip."

"Really? Oh, thank you!" she leaned forward to gave him a kiss but Luke made a step back.

"I forgot, I don't have roller skates."

"It's okay. We borough some. Come on." She took his hand pulled him downstairs.

"Cesar, you're in charge." He managed to say before they left the Diner.

** xxxxxxx **

_ At Lorelai's _

Lorelai came downstairs yawning and walked into the kitchen. Rory sat there already, reading the newspaper.

"Morning." She mumbled and headed straight to the coffee machine.

"Hey mum. Look, there's an article about Luke's Diner."

Lorelai filled her mug with coffee and joined Rory at the table. "Really? Well…" she took a big sip, looking at her daughter over the rim of her mug.

"You wanna read it? There's a picture, too." Rory grinned and shoved the newspaper to her.

Giggling, she looked at the picture. It showed a furious Luke, apparently shouting something like, _Out now_!"

"Aww, isn't he cute when he's all grumpy?" she bit her lower lip, still looking at the picture.

"Mum!" Rory said, rolling her eyes.

Her lips twitched into a smile, "What?"

Rory shook her head, "Nothing. Do you have work today?"

"Yep." She nodded and took another sip of her coffee. "I have to catch up with some stuff at the Inn . And you?"

"I have a test on Monday, so I'll spend the day with studying."

"You're so smart already. You really should stop learning." Lorelai smirked.

"Haha."

"Anyway, I'm going to Luke's now. You can reach me on my cell."

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye hon'"

xxxxxxx

_ At the Diner_

Lorelai entered the Diner and walked to the counter but was surprised when she didn't see Luke. She took a look around and turned back to Cesar, "A coffee please."

"What do you mean, Rachel is back?" Patty asked, raising her eyebrows.

"She came into the Diner today and told Luke she's back." Babette told her.

"Uh-huh. Yes, she's a nice girl. I always liked her."

_ Rachel, Rachel_ ? Lorelai heard that name before but she couldn't quite remember where. So she turned to Babette and Patty. "Hey, uhm… who you're talking about?"

"Hello sugar." Babette started, "Oh we're talking about Rachel."

"Rachel?"

"Yes. Luke's Rachel." Babette told her.

"Luke's Rachel? Uh-huh." Lorelai shifted from one foot to the other.

"Yes, she left a few years ago because she didn't want to stay in Stars Hollow her whole life. But she apparently came back this morning."

"And how they kissed. _Oh la la_!" Patty grinned. "Rachel was all over him. I do hope that she's serious this time. Luke would _so_ deserve it."

Lorelai's heart fell, "They… they kissed?"

"Yes. You should have seen it. Then they headed upstairs before they rushed out of the Diner a few minutes later. God knows where but they looked like they would be in a hurry!" Patty laughed.

"Uh huh…" Lorelai turned away. She couldn't believe it_. No no, this could no be true_.

"Honey, everything okay?" Patty asked, looking at her.

"What? Oh yeah… sure… I… I just have to go." Lorelai turned around and rushed outside.

"Your coffee!" Cesar shouted after her but she was already gone.

**xxxxxx**

_to be continued....R&R!_


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for all your nice reviews. And BIG THANKS to debbie... she's a great help!!! wink  
So okay, here's the next chapter. Enjoy! :)

**xxxxxxx**

**Chapter 9 **

A few minutes later, Lorelai parked in front of the Inn. Grabbing the steering wheel tight, she let her head fall down onto her arms. She remained in this position a few minutes before she looked up again. A tear found its way down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed her purse and got out of the car.

When she entered the Inn, Michel looked up from the front desk. "Finally!"

Lorelai slipped out of her coat and made her way to her small office without saying anything.

Frowning, Michel watched her, "Lorelai, we have...".

"Not now!" Lorelai didn't look at him, gesturing him that she really wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Excuse me but there's a problem." Michel tried it again.

"Then fix it."

"I would, but I don't know how." He stopped for a moment before he continued, "We're overbooked."

Stopping in her tracks, Lorelai turned around. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Okay, I'll explain it to you in easier words, so that you're able to understand it too. Not enough rooms for too many people."

She planted her hands on her hips, "I know what that means.

"Then why..."

"How could this happen?" she lifted a brow as Michel slanted her a look. "_What_? Do you wanna say this is _my_ fault?"

"Well, actually..."

"Not everything around here is my fault." She claimed upset.

"Do you remember the incident yesterday?"

Hesitantly, she nodded. "Yes."

"Your fault!"

She glared at him, "You're the front desk manager, Michel. So fix it."

"Oh right. I blink and here are the missing rooms. Sorry but I don't have those skills."

"Oh pleeeease!" she said and walked to the computer. "Here. Three rooms are closed because of defect radiators. How many rooms do we need?"

"Two."

"Good."

"Good? It's cold outside. Don't you think our guests won't like to heat their rooms?"

Lorelai closed her eyes and let out a sigh, "That's why you're going to call Tom to fix them."

"But the appointment is for Tuesday. And the guests are coming tomorrow morning." Michel told her.

"Tell him we need him today." She grabbed a pile of folders and headed to her office.

"It's Sunday. I'm sure he's not pleased to work today."

"Oh well. I don't like that either but I'm here, am I?" she glanced over her shoulder to look at him. "What are you waiting for? Call him!"

"The world would be so much better without you." He muttered and grabbed the phone.

"I heard that." Lorelai shouted back at him before she slammed the door.

"We're moody today, aren't we." Michel rolled his eyes before he dialled Tom's number.

** xxxxx **

An hour later Lorelai walked into the kitchen to get some coffee. "Sook, coffee!"

"Hey Lorelai. Oh I'm sorry. I totally forgot but wait, I'll make you some." Sookie threw the towel over her shoulder and filled some coffee into the machine. "Have you seen Luke's picture in the Stars Hollow Gazette?" she asked, giggling. "I wonder who made this."

The mention of Luke brought everything back. Miss Patty's words about Rachel. How they kissed. The picture of Luke kissing another woman gave her a direct stab into her heart. So she turned on her heels, "I'll be back when the coffee is ready." She said and left the kitchen.

Sookie looked up and shook her head. _What's wrong with her?_

Two minutes later, Jackson entered the kitchen through the backdoor with the ordered vegetables and fruits. "Hey Sookie."

"Jackson . Why you're so late? Do you have my cucumbers? I need them for my sauce."

"Sure. Everything's in there." He placed the box on the counter and turned back to her. "You don't believe what happened."

"Why? What happened?" Sookie asked while she chopped the onions.

"Rachel is back."

Sookie stopped and looked at him, "Rachel? Luke's Rachel?"

Jackson nodded, "Babette told me a few minutes ago."

"Oh no. When?" she asked and both didn't notice Lorelai standing in the doorframe.

"This morning. Suddenly she was in the Diner."

"She came for a visit, right?"

"No no. I heard from Babette that she's back. For good!" Jackson explained.

"No way!" Sookie protested with wide eyes.

"They even kissed."

"_What_?"

"Yes. Seems like he really missed her. And if you're asking me, I think that Luke still loves her. Oh, I'm sure he does. Do you remember when Rachel left and how devastated he was?"

"But that was years ago." Sookie shook her head.

"You never forget the love of your life."

"You can't say..." she stopped when she surveyed Lorelai in the door.

Looking from one to the other she walked in and filled herself a mug of coffee. And before she left again, she took a glance at Jackson . "Hey."

"Hey Lorelai." He said. When he and Sookie where alone again, he turned to Sookie. "She's not very talkative today. What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know." Sookie lied though she knew it. She knew that Lorelai and Luke were seeing each other and that Lorelai apparently had of feelings for him.

** xxxxxx **

In the afternoon, Sookie decided to talk to Lorelai. She found her behind the front desk on the computer.

"Hey honey. How's everything?" she asked, carefully.

"Great." Lorelai replied without looking at her.

"It's just..." Sookie started.

"Michel, check if we have enough tablecloths for dinner." Lorelai ordered and scribbled something on a sheet of paper while Michel walked away, muttering.

"The thing with you and Luke..." Sookie tried again but Lorelai interrupted her.

"Don't!"

"But Lorelai..."

"No, I don't wanna talk about it."

"But..."

"Sookie, please. There is no Luke and I, and I was stupid to think there could be. I should've known."

"Don't say that. What if this is all a big misunderstanding?" Sookie threw in.

"Misunderstanding? _Misunderstanding_?" Lorelai looked up at her friend. "What is there to misunderstand? Either they kissed or they did not. In view of half of the people of Stars Hollow they apparently _did_. So what do you want me to think? _What_?"

"I'm sure there's an explanation for all of this."

Lorelai let out a sigh, "You know, I really had the feeling that Luke and I..." then she shook her head and continued with her work, "Forget it."

"Lorelai, please..."

"I have to go and check on Tom." Lorelai said and walked up the stairs.

Sookie looked at her sympathetically before she headed back into the kitchen.

** xxxxxx **

"Come on. Don't tell me you're tired already." Rachel looked at Luke and grinned.

They were in a State Park a few miles away from Hartford .

"No but we should talk now." Luke told her, heading to a bench.

"Hey, we still have so much time. We should enjoy the sunny weather as long as we can. Afterwards we have plenty of time to talk."

"No we don't, because I have to go back to the Diner. Cesar is alone. I can't leave him alone with all the work."

Sighing, she skated to the bench and sat down next to him. "Okay, you're right. Let's talk then."

"Good."

"What do you wanna talk about?" Rachel asked smiling.

"I wanna talk about us."

"Yes, nice topic." Rachel grinned.

"Tell me why did you come back." Luke asked, looking at her.

"I told you already. I missed you and I wanna be with you now." Before Rachel could grab his hand, he reached up to his baseball cap.

"But things have changed now, Rachel."

"I know that and maybe it's a good thing."

"A good thing?"

"Yes. Now could be the right time for us. We've changed and I know it's going to work now." Rachel nodded, smiling.

Luke shook his head and sighed, "Rachel, look. There's someone..." but he was interrupted by Rachel's cell phone.

"I'm sorry. Wait a minute." She said and took the call. "Hello? Oh hi Cybill. How's everything?"

Luke let out a prolonged sigh and shoved his hands over his face. He had to tell her everything. That he was with Lorelai now. That they were seeing each other and that he was happy with her. Very happy. And it shouldn't be that hard to tell her that he moved on. Without her.

** xxxxxx **

It was almost six when Lorelai arrived home. A note on the kitchen table told her that Rory was at Dean's. So she grabbed a box of cookies and headed upstairs into her bedroom where she let herself fall on the bed.

Sighing, she rolled on her side and perceived Luke's shirt on the chair on the other side of the room. She sat up and ran her fingers through her hair before her eyes fell back on the shirt. Slowly she got up and reached for it before she slipped into it and noticed that the shirt still smelled of Luke. It had it's own special scent. And it almost felt if Luke was with her. Holding her.

She slipped out of her shoes and skirt. All she was wearing now was Luke's too big shirt_. This is the last time_, she thought. _Tomorrow I'll throw it away._

When she heard the front door, she walked down the stairs. "Rory, are you..." she stopped when she saw that Rory wasn't alone. Luke was there too. "...home?" she finished, their eyes meeting. They looked at each other for a few seconds until Luke started, "Lorelai."

Without saying anything, Lorelai turned round and walked back up the stairs into her bedroom.

"Lorelai. Wait." He shouted after her.

**xxxxxxx**

_To be continued.... Please R&R! _


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 **

Luke looked at Rory, confused. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"

"Uhm, no… I just came home myself." Rory said, frowning.

"Well okay. I guess, I… do you mind if I go upstairs and talk to her?"

"No, of course not." Rory answered and walked back into the kitchen.

Luke walked upstairs and found her door closed. Hesitantly, he knocked. "Hey, can I come in?"

"No!" Lorelai shouted through the door.

Frowning, Luke prompted. "Why not?"

"Because."

"Come on, Lorelai. That's childish."

"Huh, I'm childish? _I'm childish_? Just do me a favour and go away!"

"No, I won't. First you open this damn door and tell me what's wrong." Luke answered, upset.

"No because it won't change anything." Lorelai sat on her bed, looking at the door.

"You can't say that."

"Yes I can." She shouted back at him.

"Okay, look. Did I do something wrong?"

"Hmm, well. Let me think. Yeah, I guess you did."

"Really? Then tell me."

"No, the best thing is if you go back to your Rachel. Just leave me alone here because I don't wanna… I… just leave me alone, okay?" Lorelai shouted.

"It's about Rachel? Oh god, Lorelai. It's not what you think it is." Luke told her.

"Yeah, sure."

"Really. Open the door and I'm going to explain you everything, okay?"

"Nooo!"

Lorelai..."

"_NO_!"

"Okay, that's it." He said to himself, opened the toolbox he left at the house a few days ago when he fixed something and started to pull the door out of his hinges.

"What… what are you doing?" Lorelai asked shocked when she heard what Luke was doing with her door. "Don't do that. Luke, I warn you… if…." But suddenly Luke was inside her bedroom. "What did you do? Are you crazy?"

"No, I just want to talk." Luke said when he saw her standing in the middle of the room, wearing his too big shirt, her curly hair falling over her shoulders.

"You shouldn't be here, Luke. Please go."

"We need to talk first." He made a step towards her.

"There's nothing to talk about."

"Oh, I think there is." Luke nodded and looked at her.

"And what? That Rachel is back and you're back together with her? Well surprise, I know that already." She told him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What? No no..." Luke shook his head.

"No? Luke, please don't make it harder for me than it is already okay?" she reached up and wiped a tear away with the sleeve of Luke's shirt. "I really had the feeling that... that this thing with us, that it could work out. Then I came to the Diner this morning and you weren't there. And I had to hear from Patty and Babette that Rachel is back. And if that's not bad enough, they told me that you've kissed her."

"It's not like that. I can explain everything."

"Is it true, Luke? Did you kiss her?" Lorelai asked, whispering.

"Lorelai..."

"Did you?" she repeated.

"I... yes...no... god!" Luke shoved his hands over his face.

"What? Yes or no?"

"She kissed _me_. I didn't want that. She stood behind me, I turned round and then... I didn't want that, really. You have to believe me, Lorelai."

She looked at him. The hurt in her eyes were clear, "Do you know what's really funny? _You_ started everything. _You_ kissed me in your Diner. _You_ told me you would have feelings for me. And I really believed you. God, I believed you. I enjoyed the time we spent together. I really did. And now you're telling me that you've kissed another woman. A woman you loved for so long. Apparently you still do. And I? I'm standing here, wearing your shirt. Goddamn it, I can't believe how stupid I am."

"Please, don't say that because it's not true."

"Of course it is."

"No, it's not." Luke made a step forward and grabbed her hands. "You're the one I want."

"Nice way to show me that." She looked up into his eyes.

"I told you I didn't want that."

Lorelai looked down, avoiding his gaze. But Luke put a finger under her chin and made her look up at him again. "You're the one I want to be with. And only you." He whispered. "How can you think anything else after the last few days?"

"I... everyone was talking about how much you missed Rachel the whole time. All those years. How devastated you were when she left you. I... I was jealous and hurt." She told him.

"You don't have to be. I don't love her anymore. I stopped loving her when she left me all of a sudden all those years ago. Yes, I was hurt but that's over now. I'm over her." Luke assured her, smiling. "You do believe me, do you?"

"I don't know."

"Lorelai…"

"Proof it."

Luke looked at her for a moment before he bent down and pressed his lips on hers. His arms grabbed around her waist, pulling her closer until her body rested against his. This was what he wanted. He wanted her to feel nothing but him. To let her feel that she was the only one he wanted. For years.

Pulling apart, Luke asked breathlessly. "And?"

Out of breath too, she cupped his face and pulled him into another kiss. This time her mouth became more demanding and she linked his arms around his neck to draw him deeper.

** xxxxxx **

The phone rang and Rory picked up, "Hallo?"

"Hey Rory, you're grandmother is speaking."

"Oh hi Grandma. You're back already? How was England ?" Rory asked, curiously.

"Yes we just came home. England was cold, wet and your Great grandmother was hitting my nerves on and on."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Is your mother at home?"

"Yes."

"Good, I want to talk to her for a minute."

"Uhm… now?" Rory asked, knowing that Lorelai wasn't alone in her bedroom right now.

"Yes, why? Is there a problem?"

"No, it's just that… uhm…she's upstairs in her bedroom. "

"Is she asleep? It's too early for her to go to bed."

"No, she's not asleep Grandma."

"Okay, then let me talk to her please." Emily said, waited for an answer.

"I… uhm… okay. Wait a second." Rory hurried upstairs and saw what Luke had done to her door. Confused she knocked at the doorframe. "Mum?"

Luke and Lorelai who were kissing on the bed, jumped apart. "God Rory. What? You knew that Luke and I…"

"Telephone." Rory said innocently.

"Who is it?"

"Grandma."

"What?" Lorelai formed with her mouth.

Rory gave her an 'I'm sorry' look and gave her the phone before she walked back downstairs.

Taking a deep breath, Lorelai started. "Hi mum."

"Hello Lorelai. Did I interrupt anything?"

"No mum, of course not." Lorelai climbed back into bed, laid down between Luke's legs and put her head on his chest.

"Oh, because you said something that you and Luke… Is Luke with you, Lorelai?"

"What? No… he's… I mean… yeah, he's there." Lorelai looked at the ceiling, touching her forehead.

"Really? Why?"

"Because… because uhm…" _Lorelai, think about something._ "…he came to built me… uhm… shelves for my room, Mum. Yes, that's what we're doing here."

"Shelves? What do you need shelves for?"

"For what? I… I have a lot of stuff."

"Well, that's right."

"Okay, why did you call mum. Is there a reason?"

"Yes. Actually I thought you would call when we come back from London but you're apparently busy with Luke… and those shelves."

Lorelai rolled his eyes, "Okay, now we're talking. What do you want?"

"Don't get unfriendly with me, Lorelai. I had a hell of a weekend on my own already. I just wanted to ask if you can come to dinner on Wednesday."

"Wednesday? Why? Is there no dinner on Friday?"

"Of course there is. But I told you there're going to be two this week." Emily told her, matter of factly.

"Oh god, Mum. I should've known that you weren't joking."

"Then we see us on Wednesday."

"Yeah…"

"Okay, good bye Lorelai."

"Bye mum." Lorelai put the phone away. "Gah!"

"What?" Luke asked carefully.

"My mother and her stupid questions. She should have a life of her own, then she would stop poking in mine." Lorelai reached for Luke's hands and entwined her fingers with his.

"Are you okay?"

Slowly, Lorelai nodded and looked up at him.

"Are we okay?" Luke asked again.

"Yep." She waited for a few seconds. "So, Rachel knows about us now?"

"No, not yet."

"What? Why not?"

"Every time I wanted to tell her about us, she interrupted me and talked me into something else. She dragged me to almost all her friends and relatives. But I… I'll tell her everything as soon as possible, okay?" Luke assured her, smiling.

"Yeah, you better do." She grinned.

"I promise." He bent down and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Oh, and there's more."

"What?"

"Please put the door on its hinges again." She reached behind her to pull Luke down into another kiss.

**xxxxxxx**

_To be continued... Please R&R!  
A/N: credit to gilmoregirl1979 for the 'door thing'!! lol :D Thanks hon'! _


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 **

It was already dark outside when Luke glanced at his watch and noticed how late it was. Carefully he slipped his arm out of Lorelai's grasp and was about to get up when he felt her stir.

"Where are you going?" Lorelai asked, looking sleepily at the sitting Luke.

"To my place. Go back to sleep." He whispered.

"But I don't want you to go." She pouted and reached out for his hand.

"I know but I have to." Luke took her hand and entwined his fingers with hers.

"Then stay."

"I can't. My truck is still outside and then there's Rachel…" he said and noticed her expression.

"She's staying at your place, right?"

"Yeah."

"See. One more reason to stay here with me."

"Lorelai…" Luke started.

"She's going to sleep on the sofa, will she?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No." Luke shook his head.

"No?"

"_I'm_ sleeping on the sofa."

"It's really nice when you're trying to be a gentleman but I've seen this sofa of yours and all I can say is, think again before you're going to offer her your bed."

"My sofa is not that bad."

"No, of course not." Lorelai grinned.

"I really should go now."

"Okay." Lorelai pouted and got up too.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked when he slipped into his shoes.

"I'm coming downstairs with you."

"No, just go back to bed and try to sleep. I'm sure I'm going to find the door on my own." Luke said, laughing.

"Ha-ha. I'm thirsty, Mister."

"No coffee." Luke told her matter of factly when they walked down the stairs.

"Huh. I don't drink coffee _all_ the time." she said and Luke shot her a glance, "Well, okay. Maybe _almost_ all the time. But I'd rather drink a cup of coffee when I come to the Diner in the morning."

"I'd like that." Luke smiled.

"Really? Hmm, well… then why you're always grumpy when I'm pleading for one?" Lorelai grinned.

"Because you're drinking way too much coffee. It's unhealthy."

"I know. But it's too late anyway. I'm a junkie and it's all your fault because you're my _angel_." Lorelai grinned widely.

Luke raised both of his eyebrows, "Uh-huh."

"If Fran would have the best coffee in town, she would be my angel. But since it's your coffee I got addicted to, it's you." she looked up at him smiling, her dark curls framing her face.

"That was quite a compliment, wasn't it?"

"You bet." Lorelai agreed, her lips forming a smile.

"Okay I go now, Crazy lady!" Luke said to her before he opened the backdoor.

"Is this my new nickname?" Lorelai grinned and placed a hand on his chest.

Luke nodded, "Bye!"

"Bye, my _angel_." She cupped his face in both hands and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.

When he was gone, Lorelai walked to the sink and filled herself a glass of water. As she walked past Rory's door, she noticed a light coming out from her room. Opening the door wider, she noticed that her daughter was still sitting at her desk, reading something for school and listening to the music of her Discman. Lorelai tipped slightly on her shoulder.

"Oh hey." Rory turned off the music and looked up at her mother.

"Rory, it's after midnight . Do you plan to go to bed anytime soon?"

"After midnight ? Wow."

"Yeah, _wow_. What are you reading?" Lorelai asked and looked at the cover. "Tolstoy?"

"Yep, for my literature class."

"Oh, okay." Lorelai said and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"So and why are _you_ up this late?"

"Luke just left."

Rory grinned and climbed into her bed, too. "Really? Well, I heard you two had a fight? What was it about?"

"It was about Rachel. Ever heard this name before?"

Rory looked thoughtfully before she answered, "No, should I?"

"She was Luke's girlfriend a few years ago."

"Luke had a girlfriend?" Rory's eyes widened.

"Seems like Luke hid it very well because I didn't know about it since Sookie mentioned her name a few weeks ago."

"Wow. He's full of secrets." Rory said, grinning. "Okay, and why did you have a fight then?"

Lorelai sighed heavily, "_Because_ she's back."

"Rachel is back? In Stars Hollow?" Rory asked frowning. "Why?"

"Because she wants Luke back. And apparently she said something like, now would be the right time for them. And that it could work now because she wants to stay. _Forever_. And that they're meant to be…blah blah. That's what Luke told me earlier." Lorelai looked down and played with the sleeves of Luke's shirt. "They even kissed."

"Excuse me?" Rory piped out, shocked.

"Yeah, my reaction was pretty much like that."

"What… why… I mean how could he do that? I thought you and Luke…"

"We are. He didn't want that."

"Right." Rory frowned.

"No, I believe him. Everything's okay now. We're okay." She looked up at her daughter and smiled.

"So… you made it up?"

"Yep, you could say so." Lorelai sighed, happily.

Rory smiled, "Good." Suddenly she noticed what Lorelai was wearing. "Oh my god. You're wearing his shirt. Did you… I mean… you two…" Rory trailed off and looked at her mother suspiciously.

"What?"

"You know, did you…" Rory gestured with her hands.

"What do you…" But then Lorelai's mouth fell open when she realized what her daughter meant, "If we… _no_. No, we haven't."

"Really? Because I thought… well, you said that he just left. Which means he was here for almost six hours. And…"

"We're quite nosy today, aren't we?" Lorelai raised her eyebrow."

"To be honest? I don't wanna know it anyway. Eww!" Rory wrinkled her nose and laughed.

Lorelai laughed too. "We should go to bed now." She bent down and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "Night, hon'."

"Good night, Mum."

** xxxxxx **

Meanwhile, Luke arrived at the Diner. He made his way up to his apartment and almost stumbled over Rachel's shoes. "What the hell…" he muttered and shoved them out of his way. And there she was, laying on his bed. He looked at her sleeping form for a while and sighed. Thank goodness, she was asleep because he wouldn't have the nerve to deal with her right now. Her questions, where he was and what he did.

He took off his baseball cap and threw it on a chair before he sank on the sofa. And he chuckled when he realized that Lorelai was right again. His sofa wasn't that comfortable at all.

**xxxxxxx**

_To be continued.... Please R&R! :) _


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for your nice reviews. Finally, here's the next chapter. Enjoy :) **

**xxxxxx**

**Chapter 12**

_ Next day_

"Mum!" Rory shouted, waiting for her mother downstairs in the living room.

"Just a second. I can't find… ah damn it…bumped my toe…"

"C'mon. If you want to go to Luke's before work, you better hurry. You know I have a test today and I can't be late." Rory urged, frowning.

"I know, I know." Lorelai hobbled down the stairs, "I'm here, I'm ready. Just with a broken toe but never mind." She held her toe and rubbed it.

"Can we go now, please?"

"Sure. What do you think about my hair?" Lorelai asked.

"Looks good." Rory nodded impatiently.

"Good? They better look _fantastic_. It took me forty minutes with this damn curl tongs. And I don't even know why I bought this. It's so…" she shook her head. "…whatever, let's go." She rubbed her toe one last time before she followed Rory to the door. "So, are you well prepared for the test today?"

Rory nodded and flipped through the notes in her hands, "I guess."

"Don't be nervous. You can do this. I know you can." Lorelai told her daughter while they climbed into the car.

"I wanted to get up earlier today, that I can review all my notes but I forgot to set my alarm clock. So I have to do it now. In…" she glanced at her watch. "…30 minutes. Great, huh?"

"You have enough time during your bus ride to Hartford. Oh, perfect transition. We have dinner on Wednesday." Lorelai started the car and made her way to the Diner.

"On Wednesday? Why?"

"Because your grandmother cancelled the dinner last Friday and now she wants to make it up and invited us for Wednesday. Isn't this nice?" Lorelai glanced at her daughter, forcing a smile.

"Very." Rory closed the folder with her notes. "That's why she called yesterday, right?"

"Yep. With a perfect timing. Like always. That's her. That's my mother."

Rory turned to look at Lorelai, "Uhm, mum?"

"What, hon'?"

"I know we talked about this yesterday but I was wondering… well, what was that thing with the door?"

"What thing?" Lorelai looked puzzled.

"You know, the thing with your door. When I came upstairs to give you the phone, your door was… well, not where it should have been. Why?"

Lorelai laughed, "Oh, _that_ thing. Woah, I kinda freaked out when I noticed what Luke was going to do. I mean, _halloooo_? He can't do that with my door, right?"

"But why did he do that?"

"Because I wouldn't let him in."

"I see."

"Yeah, I didn't want to talk to him after I heard what happened with Rachel. So I locked the door. Well, what can I say. He didn't care." Lorelai laughed and parked in front of Luke's Diner.

"Luke's a very determined man." Rory nodded, smiling.

"Definitely." Lorelai chuckled when she thought back as Luke stormed into her room after he put the door out of its hinges. "You know, I never thought that Luke can be so…" she smiled widely and turned to Rory who looked at her with interest.

"So… what?"

"Never mind. Time for my coffee... and L…." she pressed her lips together. "Okay, c'mon." she grabbed her purse and climbed out of the car.

"Time for…?" Rory asked grinning.

"Uhm… those _lllllovely_ pancakes." Lorelai answered and scanned the whole Diner when she closed the door behind her.

"Where do you wanna sit?"

Lorelai's eyes were focused on a woman with long and curly hair, standing behind the counter and talking to one of the guests.

"Mum?"

"Yeah?"

"You wanna sit at the counter?"

"Uhm, no. Let's sit over there." Lorelai shoved Rory to one of the tables at the window.

When they sat, Lorelai bent forward and whispered. "You think that's Rachel?"

Rory turned around and looked at the woman behind the counter. "Either Rachel or his new assistant. Though I'm afraid it's Rachel." She looked at her for a moment before she turned back to her mother. "I think she looks nice."

"Nice? She seems arrogant. And look what she's wearing. One of Luke's flannel shirts. I don't believe this." Lorelai grabbed Rory's hand and shook it. "How can she do this? _I've_ the privilege to wear them, not she."

"Calm down, mum."

"What? I'm just saying… oh.. ssshh… she's coming over."

"Hey, what can I get you?" Rachel asked with a notepad in her hand, looking from Lorelai to Rory.

"A Danish and coffee." Lorelai said.

"Okay, Danish and a cup of coffee." Rachel repeated and wrote it down on the notepad.

"Are you kidding?" Lorelai looked up at her.

"Excuse me?" Rachel said, irritated.

"You better bring the _whole_ coffee pot. This is going to be a long and hard day. And I didn't have any coffee at all today."

"The whole coffee pot?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's what I'm saying, isn't it?"

"Well…" Rachel looked at her confused, "…okay."

"Hon'. What do you want?" Lorelai asked her daughter.

"Doughnut and coffee, please."

"Got it." Rachel nodded and walked back behind the counter.

"What was that about?" Rory asked, frowning.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You don't even know her. So be nice, okay?"

"Oh believe me. I don't intent to know her." She watched Rachel making coffee. "I'm just wondering where Luke is."

"Hmm, maybe upstairs."

"But that's not him. He never left the Diner alone for more than five minutes. Besides this he knew that I would come today. Why isn't he here?"

Suddenly Rory's pager went off. "Oh, it's Dean. He wants to talk to me about something." She told her mum while Rachel brought their food.

"Oh, okay. Do you want me to pick you up after school?"

"This would be great." Rory smiled widely, took a sip of her coffee and grabbed her doughnut before she kissed Lorelai on her cheek and hurried outside, shouting a "Bye Mum." over her shoulder.

While Lorelai sipped her coffee she studied Rachel over the rim of her mug. _So, this is Rachel. Well, okay. _Lorelai thought and glanced at her watch. She had still a plenty of time left, so she grabbed her mug and walked over to the counter where she sat down on one of the stools. She tapped with her fingers on the surface of the counter and waited for Rachel to look up at her, but she was busy with refilling the ketchup bottles.

So Lorelai started, "Excuse me."

Rachel looked up, "Yes?"

"Where's Luke?"

"He's not here."

"I figured that out already." Lorelai said, trying to stay friendly. "Maybe you could tell me _why_ he's not here?"

"He had to leave town early this morning." Rachel gave her a smile.

"He left town? Why?" _And why he didn't tell me? _she thought

"Something personal."

"Personal?"

"Look, if you give me your number Luke can give you a call when he's back." Rachel offered friendly.

"Oh, I think he knows my number very well. Thank you." Lorelai forced a smile.

"So, you're a friend of him?"

"You could say so. Yes." Lorelai took a sip of her coffee again.

"Really? I'm Rachel. Nice to meet you. " Rachel offered her hand.

Hesitantly, Lorelai shook it. "Lorelai."

"Lorelai? I like you name. Sounds special and very beautiful." Rachel smiled.

"Thank you. So, what are you doing here Rachel?" Lorelai tried to start a conversation.

"I promised Luke to watch the Diner while he's away. First he wanted to close it but I told him I could stand in for him. Well, it's not that I haven't done it before." Rachel told her smiling.

"That's really nice of you. I know Luke hates to close the Diner even if it's just for a few hours." Lorelai gave her a smile. "But actually I meant what are you doing _here_. In Stars Hollow?"

"Oh, why I come back here? Well, because I missed this crazy little town… and Luke. Yes, I really missed him." She looked at Lorelai and smiled widely. "Though he can be grumpy. Very grumpy. But I couldn't forget the past we have together. You know, we had a great time and I really missed that while I was away, doing my job. So I came back here. Back to _him_."

"Uh-huh." Was all Lorelai could say at the moment.

"I mean, you probably know that. He's the best, isn't he?"

"He is. Nice shirt you're wearing."

"Yeah. It's one of Luke's. I like to wear his flannel shirts. They're so comfortable and it feels like in old days. You're a good friend of him, aren't you?"

"Uhm, yes we…"

"Good, good. So please tell me something about his past years. We hadn't that much time to talk and I'm curious what he did all those years. And maybe you know something about his women too."

"His women?" Lorelai asked, swallowing.

"Yes. Do you know something about that? Did he have a girlfriend the last years?"

"I uhm…"

"It's not that I didn't have someone too when I was away. So I'd understand. He's an attractive man after all, isn't he?"

Lorelai nodded and looked down on her hands. "I don't…"

"Lorelai, sweetheart." Babette strolled in.

_ Thank god._ She turned round, "Hey Babette. How's everything?"

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. Do you know if Luke has time to fix my sink. Morty has two left hands when it comes to things like that." Babette confessed sighing.

"Well, I don't know. You have to ask him." Lorelai said.

"I was just wondering because he repaired something for you and…"

"What?" Lorelai asked, nervously and looked at Rachel who brought ordered food to the tables.

"Yes, I saw him leaving your house yesterday. With his toolbox. So I figured he fixed something for you. What did he repair because he left your house pretty late?"

"A lot of things, Babette." Lorelai looked at her watch. "Oh _wow_. I _really_ gotta go now. I have a staff meeting at the hotel." Lorelai said and grabbed her purse.

"Okay, sugar. Have a nice day."

"Thanks Babette, bye."

** xxxxxx **

Outside, Lorelai took a deep breath and climbed into her car. _Oh god!_ She thought and laid her head back, closing her eyes. Suddenly her cell phone rang. She rummaged through her purse until she found it and saw the name on the display. With a smile she took the call.

"Hallo."

"Hey, it's me."

"Who's me?" Lorelai joked, smiling.

"Lorelai."

"Okay, okay. How could I not recognize your voice. The same voice who's always telling me I had enough coffee today or offers me decaf because it's healthier. It's even hunting me in my dreams." Lorelai laughed.

"Good to know."

"If you say so." Lorelai answered.

"Yeah. Lorelai, I just wanted to tell you that I'm not in town." He told her, hesitantly.

"Really? Well, then who was the person I talked to at the Diner? Oh, right. My mistake. This must have been Rachel."

"You were at the Diner already?"

"Yeah, just left."

"And you guys talked?"

"Unfortunately. Yeah, I wanted to know why you're not there and then all of a sudden she asked me about your women in life." Lorelai told him, matter of factly.

"What?"

"Yeah. I'd say this conversation took an unexpected turn." Lorelai sighed.

"Yeah, definitely. Uhm, but you haven't told her anything. I mean, about us. Right?"

"Of course not because _you_ have to tell her that. I mean, you're going to tell her everything, will you?" Lorelai asked, hopefully.

"Yes, I promise."

Lorelai's lips twitched into a smile. "Okay. Good. So, where are you?"

"My sister, Liz called me this morning. She's moving into a new apartment in New York and she asked me to help her with all her stuff. I had to leave pretty earlier otherwise I would have called you already."

"Oh okay. Why is that we never see each other before work?" Lorelai asked sighing.

"Maybe it's more romantic when I come to your house _after_ work." Luke told her smiling.

"Yes, but only if we don't have a fight." She laughed. "Oh, I forgot. Babette saw you yesterday night, leaving my house."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Not really."

"But it was almost midnight . She's supposed to sleep in the middle of the night."

"She thought you repaired something for me because you had _Bert_ with you." Lorelai said and smiled at her mention of Bert.

"Really? Then I'll always take _Bert_ with me when I'll visit you in the middle of the night. Then things aren't _that _obvious." Luke laughed.

She grinned, "Nah. You won't have any luck when you're pounding on my window in the middle of the night. Some of us trying to sleep, you know?"

"Who says I have to knock. I have Bert with me, have I?"

"Luke Danes, are you trying to tell me that you do the same with my window like you did with my door?" she laughed again, totally unaware that she was already too late for work.

"Kind of, yeah."

"You really have no shame, Mister." she added smiling. "So, when you're coming back?"

"That day. I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay. Be careful when you're in this big town." Lorelai grinned.

"Ha-ha. You know that I'm a big boy."

"Yes, you have a point here."

"See. Okay, I have to go. Liz is calling me to drag the next boxes into my truck."

"Aw. Okay." She said and waited a few seconds. "Bye."

"Bye."

** xxxxxxx **

**To be continued... Please R&R!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you guys, for all your reviewing. I love to get reviews. YAY! :)  
Sorry that it took me so long to post the next chapter but I was kind of busy with studying for an exam. But inbetween my study breaks I found some time to continue with my story. I really hope you like this chapter. Please read it and tell me what you think.  
Enjoy! :) **

**xxxxxxx**

**Chapter 13**

_ Later on _

Lorelai stood in front of Rory's school, leaning against the side of her car while she sipped her coffee, holding a second cup in her other hand.

She was a little too early but she could wait a few minutes. At least she had her coffee.

With a glance at her watch, she noticed that it was five and she wondered if Luke would be home by now. So she decided to call at home to check her answering machine for any messages. When she turned around to place the too cups of coffee on the top of her car, Lorelai didn't notice a man coming up behind her, tipping on her shoulder.

With a jump she turned round and looked up at him, "Max." she said, placing a hand on her heart. "Geez, you're giving me a heart attack here."

"I'm sorry." Max said, smiling and looked at her. "Hi."

"Hey." Lorelai smiled back at him. "What are you doing here? Oh well, stupid question. Of course I know what you're doing here." She laughed.

"Yeah." He looked on the floor and back into her eyes, "And… how are you?"

"Oh well, I'm fine, thanks." She shrugged. "You?"

Max nodded, "Same here." He hesitated for a moment before he continued. "So, you're waiting for Rory?"

"Yep. Her class should be over by now." She told him, well aware of the awkward situation between them.

"Yeah, it should."

"So…" Lorelai continued after trying to think about a topic to talk about. "You straightened everything out with headmaster Charleston ? I mean, the last time we talked you told me something about being on probation?"

"Yes, but I think he appreciates to good job I'm doing."

"So everything's okay now?"

"Yes, everything's fine."

"So you haven't kissed any other mothers on parenting days or something and got caught by Paris ?" Lorelai asked, a small smile forming on her lips.

"No." Max shook his head, laughing.

"Learning from your mistakes is always a good thing." She shifted from one foot to the other.

"Uhm, I wouldn't say…" Max started.

"Mom." Rory shouted, heading towards them.

"Rory. Finally. What took you so long?"

"Paris ."

"Oh. Yeah, I should've known." She handed her the cup of coffee.

"Thanks." She took a sip and wrinkled her nose. "It's cold and it's _not_ Luke's."

"No, it's not. It's from a café here in Hartford ." Lorelai explained, shrugging.

"Oh, okay." Rory said and noticed Max. "Oh, Mr. Medina."

"Hi Rory." He greeted her friendly.

"Okay, I think we should go now." Lorelai opened the door of her car to climb in.

"Uhm, Lorelai…"

"Yeah?" she said, looking over her shoulder.

"Is it okay if I call you… I mean, sometime?"

"Max, I…"

"We could go for a coffee or something." Max offered, smiling.

"I don't think that…"

"Just if…"

"Max, I'm seeing someone." Lorelai said, looking at him.

"Oh, okay." Max nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry."

"No, why? There's no reason to be sorry. _I'm_ sorry because I was the one who ended this. I mean, of course you continued with your life. Why wouldn't you?"

"I really didn't see this one coming. It… it just happened…" Lorelai told him, a smile playing on her lips.

Max nodded slowly, "Do I know him?"

"Does it matter?"

"I guess not." He let out a prolonged sigh and looked back into her eyes, seeing the happiness there. "I'm glad you found someone who can make you happy, Lorelai. I wished it would have been me but…" he said, shrugging. "…maybe this between us… wasn't meant to be."

"It's not that what we had meant nothing to me. We had a great time, hadn't we?"

"I would say so."

"See. Okay, uhm…" she opened the door of her car again, still facing him. "…I think we should go now."

"Okay. Bye Lorelai."

"Bye Max." she looked at him one last time before she climbed into her car.

"You okay?" Rory asked, looking at her.

"What? Yeah, sure. It's just…" she fastened her seatbelt and turned to look at her daughter, "…that was weird."

"I guess. You wanna talk about it?"

Lorelai watched Max climbing into his own car and driving away. Then she turned back to Rory, "Max is so nice."

"I know."

"And I like him."

"I know." Rory repeated, nodding.

"We had a lot of fun when we were together. I enjoyed our time so much. I really did. But this whole situation a few minutes ago, made me realize something."

"And what?"

"That… that despite the fact that we had so much fun together, I can definitely say now that… I didn't have feelings for him. No, wrong. Maybe I _had_ but you can't compare them to the feelings I have _now_… for…" she stopped and took a deep breath.

"Luke?" Rory asked, carefully.

Hesitantly, Lorelai nodded, smiling. "Yeah, for Luke."

Rory's smile widened.

"I mean, I never thought this would happen. Luke and I. But every time when he's looking at me, I feel all these butterflies in my stomach." She touched her belly. "Which is so weird because it's not that he didn't look at me before. He definitely did. And he did it everyday. I mean, he's my coffee man, isn't he?" Lorelai grinned.

"Our. He's _our_ coffee man." Rory corrected her.

"Oh, you're right, hon'. Then when he's touching me, I feel my knees weaken. And when he's holding me in his strong arms it feels so good… I feel so safe then. So incredibly safe. God, Rory. You have no idea how strong he is. His arms are like… _wow_! So muscular. You wouldn't believe it under all this flannel."

"So you looked _under_ all this flannel?" Rory asked, grinning.

Lorelai opened her mouth, "_Dirty_!"

"What?" Rory shrugged, laughing. "Just asking."

"That's my daughter." Lorelai grinned. "But you know what's really bugging me?"

"No, what?"

"This whole thing with Rachel. I had some kind of small talk with her today at the Diner and she seems to be really nice. Actually."

"And where is the problem?"

"That Luke still hasn't told her about us. And I really don't know what takes him so long to tell her. It shouldn't be that hard unless… well, unless he still has… you know… some kind of…"

"No. No no no no _NO_! Don't say that. Don't even _think_ that. We all know that's not true. Even a blind one could see that Luke's totally in love with you. For years already." Rory said.

"Then why is it so hard for him to tell her the truth when he's so sure about his feelings?"

"Well, maybe because he still cares about her. Don't forget that they're sharing a long past. Maybe he's just trying to find a good moment to tell her everything."

Lorelai let out a prolonged sigh, "Yeah, maybe you're right."

"Of course I am."

Suddenly, Lorelai's cell phone rang and Rory handed it to her. "Well, well…if _that_ isn't your muscular flannel man."

Lorelai grabbed the phone and looked on the display. With a smile she took the call. "Hey."

"Hey."

"So, where are you?"

"At the Diner."

"Really? I didn't expect you would be back that early." Lorelai said, smiling.

"Neither did I."

"I hoped you would take Bert and break into my house in the middle of the night. Like you told me in the morning." She reminded him, grinning.

Luke had to grin at that, too. "I know but we worked pretty fast so I was able to come back earlier." He told her.

"Because you missed me and wanted to come back as soon as possible?" she asked him in a voice like a three year old.

"And what if?"

"Then I'd say that I'd like that and… that I missed you too."

Luke chuckled to himself, "Good."

"Definitely."

"Sooo… where are you?"

"Hartford, but I'm already on my way back to Stars Hollow."

"Good. That's good."

"Yep. My words." Her lips twitched into a smile.

"Are you coming to the Diner?" Luke asked, hesitantly.

"To the Diner? Well, I'm not sure if that's such a good idea. Maybe it's better if I don't…"

Luke cut her off, "Rachel is not here."

"Oh, where is she?" Lorelai asked, raising her eyebrows.

"She got a call from one of her friends and told me that she'll be back later."

"So… there's no Rachel?" Lorelai asked again.

"That's what I'm saying." Luke answered, smiling.

"Okay. Well then… be sure there's coffee when I arrive."

"It's all ready and waiting for you."

"_Really_?"

"Yep."

"Well, then make sure that it's still hot _and_ ready when I'm there." Lorelai laughed.

"Then you better hurry."

"I'll do what I can, Mister."

"Glad to hear that."

"Okay, then… see you later."

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye" Lorelai ended the call and shoved her cell phone back into her purse. After a few seconds she noticed Rory's look. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Rory said, still grinning.

"Stop that."

"What?" she said, innocently.

"Stop looking at me like that." Lorelai tried to give her a serious expression.

"It's just so cute listening to you when you're talking to him."

"Oh Rory, c'mon." Lorelai grinned and started the car.

** xxxxx**

_ Half an hour later _

Luke was standing behind the counter, scribbling something on a piece of paper when he heard the door bells ringing. Looking up expectedly he saw her, their eyes meeting. Lorelai gave him a smile before she slipped out of her coat and headed towards the counter, sitting down on one of the stools. "Hey."

"Hey." Luke returned her smile. Though he hasn't seen her for just one day, it felt like an eternity. He continued looking into her beautiful blue eyes before he noticed another pair of blue staring at him. "Uhm, hey Rory." Clearing his throat, he asked them both. "What can I get you?"

"A Coffee to go, please." Rory said.

"What? But we just came." Lorelai said, pouting.

"I know. But I have lots of homework to do for tomorrow. So, I'm going home now, okay?"

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"But I could drive you." Lorelai offered, looking from Luke to her daughter.

"No, it's okay Mom." Rory grabbed the coffee Luke made her and walked back to the door. "See you later. Bye Mom. Bye Luke."

"Bye hon'."

"Bye." Luke said before she closed the door behind her.

"So…" Lorelai started smiling, her eyes meeting and holding his gaze.

"So." He repeated.

"It's pretty empty here today."

"I know." He conceded, filling her a mug full of dark and hot coffee.

"Oh, thank you. You always know what I need. How comes?" she said grinning before she took a big sip from her coffee.

"Lifelong experience?" Luke propped the palm of his hands on the counter, leaning forward a little.

"Seems so." She smiled and put the mug back on the counter, her eyes focused on him. Luke moved closer inch by inch until their lips were touching in a gentle kiss.

After they pulled apart, Lorelai whispered. "Hi."

"Hi."

"I like that."

"Same here." He said, leaning forward to kiss her again. Slower and deeper this time.

Lorelai pulled apart. "Maybe we should… I…I want…" she grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"What?" he looked at her, confusing.

"There's too much space between us." Lorelai indicated to the counter between them.

"Good point." He whispered.

"And maybe… we shouldn't do this… here. I mean, what if someone will see us?"

"You're right." Luke held her hand in his. "We could…go..." he pointed with his head into the direction of the stairs.

"Sounds good." She smiled and hopped from her stool, walking behind the counter to Luke.

After switching off the lights, he grabbed her hand and they disappeared behind the curtain which separated the Diner from his apartment.

And it didn't take more than five seconds until Luke pulled her close again, rubbing his lips over hers.

Pressed against the wall of the stairway, Lorelai threw her arms around his neck to draw him deeper and closer to her until her body rested against his. That was all she wanted. What both wanted. Lorelai's hand was caressing the back of his neck while her other hand was touching his cheek, ever so softly.

Suddenly she pulled apart. Clearly out of breath, she began. "_Wow_. What.. what are you doing to me?"

"No, what are _you_ doing to me Lorelai?" Luke said, smiling.

"Nothing, why?" she grinned, ever so innocently.

"Yeah, I can see that." Luke let out a small laugh.

"This thing… between us. I don't want this to end. Ever." Lorelai whispered.

"Neither do I. Believe me, neither do I. " he entwined his fingers with hers and smiled down at her.

"Good." She bit her lower lip. "Where did we stop?"

He didn't wait to be told twice, so he crushed his mouth down on hers again and kissed her more passionately than before. Long and deep until the pleasure spread through her body and straight down to her toes. One of her hands trailed back up his neck, causing his baseball cap falling down on the stairs. But they didn't care. Both noticed how much they wanted this. How much they wanted each other.

"Hallo?" came a voice from the Diner. "Luke, where are you? And why are all the lights off? Luke?"

When they heard Rachel's voice, they immediately pulled apart, looking at each other, trying to catch their breath….

** xxxxxx **

**To be continued... Please R&R! :) **


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Luuuke?"

"Oh my god." Lorelai formed the words with her mouth, "You didn't lock the door?" she asked Luke, whispering.

"No." Luke shook his head, still trying to catch his breath.

"Great. You switched off the lights but you didn't lock the door? Very smart of you." Lorelai asked again, her voice not above a whisper.

"I got distracted… somehow."

"Somehow? Really?" a smile began to form on her lips when she looked up at him, noticing some of her lipstick on his lips. With a finger she rubbed it away and whispered, "Let me do this. Just play along."

With a puzzled expression he followed her down the stairs.

"But Luke, I really need your pipe wrench. Where is it?" Lorelai asked while she walked down the stairs back into the Diner, trying to sound as casual as possible. "Oh, hi Rachel."

"Uhm… hey Lorelai." Rachel said confused when she saw both of them coming downstairs.

"Hey." Luke said before he turned back to Lorelai, clearing his throat. "Uhm… I told you that... if it's not in my toolbox, it's still at your house."

"But it's not." Lorelai put her hands on her hips.

"Where did you look?"

_ What are you doing. Just play along. Don't ask questions. _ "Well, I looked… you know… I looked everywhere." She gestured with her hands.

"Okay…" They were still looking at each other and Luke noticed how beautiful she was in her dark red silk blouse, her tight black skirt and the matching black blazer. Her curly hair was falling over her shoulders with just a small clip on the top her head.

Lorelai noticed his look and swallowed, "Fine. Then I'll look again."

"This is probably a good idea." Luke nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah…" she said and her eyes travelled over to Rachel, giving her a smile.

The three of them stood in the middle of the Diner, an awkward silence between them.

"That's why I wanted to talk to Luke in the morning." Lorelai explained with a shrug.

"I see." Rachel answered, smiling. "I'm sorry he couldn't help you."

"It's okay."

"You can ask Tom." Luke suggested.

"Yes." Lorelai pointed her finger at him. "Maybe I'll do that. I'm sure he knows where his tools are."

Luke rolled his eyes, trying to hide a chuckle. "I know it too. I know that they're _not_ in Be… I mean in my toolbox."

"How funny." Lorelai grinned, hitting him playfully on his chest. Meeting his eyes again, she quickly pulled her hand away and continued. "I… I better go now."

"Okay." Luke nodded. "Let me know if you found the tool at your house." He said and walked with her to the door.

After slipping into her coat, she opened the door and turned to look at him again. "Yep but I told you I don't have it." She grinned and bit her lower lip.

"Just look, okay?"

"Okay. Bye Rachel."

"Bye Lorelai."

When she was sure that Rachel couldn't see her, she blew Luke a kiss and added whispering. "Bye."

Luke smiled, "Bye." He waited until she climbed into her car and drove away, before he closed the door and locked it, switching the sign to '_closed'_.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked.

Luke turned back to her and began to put the chairs onto the tables. "What do you mean?"

"It's seven. You wanna close this early?"

"Yes, you know I'm tired from dragging all those boxes from Liz's apartment, down the stairs, in my truck, up the stairs again and into her new apartment." He emphasized everything with a gesture of his hands.

"My poor Luke." She smiled.

"It's okay. I mean, it's not that I have to do this every day."

"Fortunately not." She smiled and watched him, placing the chairs on the tables. "You know what? Why don't you go upstairs, I can finish this."

"No, it's okay. I can do that."

"Please. Let me do it. Just go upstairs."

"You sure?"

"Rachel nodded, smiling. "Yes. And now _go_." She shoved him towards the stairs.

Before he disappeared behind the curtain, he stopped and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

** xxxxx**

After Rachel finished everything, she checked that the door of the Diner was locked and switched off the lights before she headed upstairs into Luke's apartment.

Still wearing his clothes, Luke was asleep on the couch. His head was resting on his right arm, while his other one was hanging over the edge of the sofa.

With a smile, Rachel watched him for moment and listened to his steady breath. He must have been very tired because it didn't take more than thirty minutes to clean the Diner downstairs and he was already asleep.

As quiet as possible she walked over to him, taking the blanket which was lying on the bottom of the sofa, and threw it over his sleeping form.

He shifted slightly, rolling on his back, his hand above his head. His expression was fully relaxed and he was smiling.

Rachel couldn't resist and run her fingers through his hair. She looked at him and realized that it was right to come back. To come back to Luke.

Hesitantly she bent forward and kissed him slightly on his lips.

"Mmmhh…Lorelai…" Luke mumbled after Rachel pulled apart.

Eyes wide in shock, Rachel's mouth fell open and she made a step back. _Lorelai_? _What's that supposed to mean?_

"Lorelai…" Luke mumbled again before he turned on the other side, drifting off to sleep again.

_ Luke and… and Lorelai? _

She put a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. With a sigh she sank onto a chair and tried to think about the previous days. How blind was she, that she didn't notice anything?

_ "But things have changed now, Rachel."_

_ "Rachel, look. There's someone..."_

_ "Oh, I think he knows my number very well. Thank you."_

"Oh god." She sighed. It was so obvious how they looked at each other earlier when they came downstairs from his apartment. And when she thought about it thoroughly, she was sure that both of them looked flushed and breathless. They did god knows what before she interrupted them.

She got up and walked over to the closet, where she knew Luke kept his toolbox. With one look over her shoulder she made sure that Luke was asleep. She opened the closet and knelt down to open his toolbox. And there it was. His pipe wrench. And god, she believed every word of it. _Damn it_.

** xxxxxxx**

_ Next morning_

Luke stood behind the counter when Rory entered the Diner. She walked over to him and sat down on one of the stools, "Hey Luke."

Luke looked up at her, "Hey Rory. What can I get you?"

"Blueberry pancakes and coffee." She said and placed her bag on the stool next to her.

"Okay." He scribbled it down on his notepad and looked outside. "Uhm, did your mother get lost on the way here?"

"What? Oh no, she stayed at home."

"Why?" he asked worried, "Is something wrong?"

"No, she's fine. She has some paperwork to do for the Inn , so she decided to do it at home without Michel annoying her and all that kind of stuff, you know." Rory told him.

"Oh yeah, sure."

"But she'll call you later to tell you either if she'll come to the Diner before she heads to the Inn or not. Depends on Michel and if he calls her for any '_emergencies'_."

"I see." He said smiling before he turned around to grab the pot and poured her a cup of hot coffee.

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm so glad that you and Mom… you know."

"What?" Luke looked at her, wiping the counter.

Rory glanced around before she bent forward and said whispering, "That you and mom, you know… that you're together. Finally."

"Yeah?" Luke looked down, blushing slightly. "So, this is okay for you?"

"Of course." Rory nodded smiling and took a sip from her coffee before she continued, "I haven't seen her like this… forever. So you're definitely good for her."

"If you say so." Luke smiled at her, "I go get your pancakes now." He said and walked into the kitchen. A few minutes later he came back and brought Rory her pancakes and refilled her coffee cup.

"Morning Luke." Rachel said when she came down the stairs and walked behind the counter.

"Morning." Luke replied and grabbed the coffee pot to make his way to the tables.

Grabbing a doughnut, Rachel looked at Rory and started hesitantly. "Hey, you're Lorelai's daughter, right?"

Rory looked up at her, "Yes. Hallo." She smiled and continued eating.

"You're alone today? Where's your mother?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows.

"At home. She starts with her work later today." Rory told her, "Why?"

"Oh, just asking."

"Okay." She gave her a smile.

Playing with a curl of her hair, Rachel watched Luke pouring coffee and talking to some customers. "Uhm… Luke, do you need my help right now?"

Luke looked around the almost empty Diner and shook his head, "No, why?"

"I wanted to make a walk through the town. Just wanted to look if something's changed or if there are some shops I haven't seen before."

"You won't find anything new. Everything is exactly the same." He pointed out and filled the empty pot with water again to make new coffee.

"Well then…" she said, shrugging. "I thought about making a few pictures or something. Only if you really don't need me here." Rachel said, looking at him.

"I told you it's okay. The morning rush is over anyway, so you can take a walk around."

"Good." She grabbed her camera from behind the curtain and headed towards the door. "I won't take long. Bye."

"Uh-huh." Luke answered and shifted his gaze to Rory, "More coffee?"

Rory nodded grinning and held her cup out to him.

** xxxxxx**

"No Michel, don't even start with me." Lorelai said, holding the cordless phone between her ear and her shoulder while she walked down the stairs into the living room, a pile of folders in her hands.

"I have the impression that you're coming and going whenever you want." Michel answered her in his significant French accent.

"So what if? I'm the manager, Michel." she walked into the kitchen and dropped the folders on the kitchen table. "Besides this, what do you think I'm doing? Making myself a nice day?"

"Some could have the impression…"

"No my friend, I'm doing paperwork for the hotel. The accounts for last month, new orders and all that kind of stuff. And I'm doing this at home because I don't want you to get on my nerves while I'm working on it. It pretty much annoys me without your comments already, understand?"

"That wasn't really nice." Michel muttered into the phone.

"Do you want me to call Tobin?" Lorelai threatened him.

"What? No, you can't do this to me."

"Then Michel, answer the phone when it's ringing. If the guests ask you any kind of question, don't curse something in French, answer them. And of course, stay friendly and nice all the time. Then, my friend, we won't have any problems."

Michel rolled his eyes, "Fine."

"Good. I'll be at the hotel at…" she glanced at her watch, "…I don't know. Around lunch time."

"Hm-hmm."

"Bye Michel." Lorelai rolled her eyes and let herself fall on the chair. With a sigh she opened the first folder, flipping through the pages, when the doorbell rang.

Frowning, she got up and headed to the door. "I'm coming." She pushed the door open and was surprised to see the person who was standing there.

"Rachel. Hi."

"Hey, uhm… I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Actually…" she looked at her, shrugging, "…I was catching up with some paperwork."

"Oh."

"No, it's okay. Michel is grumpy already, so it won't change anything. Come in." Lorelai made a step to the side to let her in.

"Thanks. Who's Michel?" Rachel asked while she entered the house.

"My front desk manager." Lorelai closed the door and rolled her eyes, taking a deep breath before she followed her.

"_Your_ front desk manager?" Rachel asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, of my hotel."

"You have your own hotel?"

"No, actually I'm the manager but somehow you could say… yeah, it's my hotel." Lorelai smiled.

"Wow." Rachel nodded, forcing a smile.

"You want something to drink? Tea, coffee?" Lorelai asked while she walked into the kitchen. Rachel followed her.

"Coffee would be nice." Rachel said, sitting down on one of the kitchen chairs.

"Great. Just made new one." She poured two cups of coffee and sat down on the table, across from Rachel. "So?"

"Well, I was walking around the town to take some pictures when I came to your house. I knew it was yours because I read the name on your mailbox. Then I thought, why I don't visit one of Luke's friends when I'm around."

"Yeah, why not." Lorelai attempted a faint smile before she took a sip from her coffee.

"So, this is your house." Rachel began, looking around. "I like it."

"Thanks."

"But what is broken?"

"Huh?"

"You wanted to borrow Luke's pipe wrench, so I assumed that you need it to fix something."

"Oooh, yeah sure. _That_. It's nothing big."

"What is it?" Rachel asked

"It's just uhm…" Lorelai's eyes roamed around the kitchen, tapping with her fingers nervously on the table. "It's the sink in the bathroom. Yeah, the sink. It's kind of clogged up or something. I always tell Rory that she shouldn't wash her hair in the sink." She shrugged with a small smile.

"Oh, okay." Rachel nodded. "Bad habit."

"That's what I'm saying."

After Rachel took a sip from her coffee, she began. "I met Rory at the Diner. I like her uniform. In which school she's going?"

"Chilton."

"In Hartford, right? Very impressive building, I passed it a few times. And how's she doing there?"

"Fine. More than fine. Rory is a smart kid. Everything seems so easy for her. When she changed from Stars Hollow High to Chilton this year, she had a lot to catch up on. Even the headmaster told her that she might won't take it. And now she's one of best students." Lorelai told her.

"Oh, you must be very proud of her."

"Yes, absolutely. She wants to go to Harvard someday. This has been her dream since she's four. I bought her one of those big Harvard shirts and…" she trailed off and looked at Rachel, "…I'm sorry. Every time when I'm talking about Rory and Harvard I get all excited.

"It's okay. I'm sure she'll do great in Harvard."

"I know."

"Uhm, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Rachel asked smiling and stood up.

"Of course not. It's over there." She pointed into the direction of the hallway.

"Thank you."

Lorelai shoved her hands over her face before she got up and poured more coffee into her mug.

"Lorelai?"

"Do you want more coffee too? I love coffee, I would marry it if it would be…" she turned around and looked at Rachel and Luke's flannel shirt she was holding in her hands. Swallowing hard, she placed the coffee pot back onto the counter before she would drop it on the floor.

"Is there something you wanna tell me?" Rachel asked, her eyes were focused on Lorelai.

_ This is so not happening!_

"Why? Is there something wrong?" she asked carefully, playing with a strand of her hair.

"That's what I'm asking you." Rachel held out Luke's shirt. "I found this in your bathroom. I didn't notice you're wearing flannels, too."

"Uhm, see… they're not mine."

"You don't say."

"Yeah, you know… it's from… well, from… Rory's dad who… came by last week. Seems if he left it here." Lorelai smiled at her nervously, shifting with her feet.

"Really? Well, then tell me the name of Rory's dad."

"Why?" Lorelai frowned.

"Just curious."

"Christopher. His name is Christopher. Why do you wanna know that?" she put her hands on her hips. "You don't believe me?"

"Not really. Can you see the initials on the inside of this shirt?"

"There are initials?"

"Yes, there are. And I know that because this is the shirt I bought for Luke years ago. With _his_ initials. L D, like in Luke Danes."

"This must be a coincidence."

"Oh I don't think so. Why do you have Luke's shirt?"

"I told you it's Christopher's."

"Oh c'mon. I recognize Luke's shirt, the label and even with the initials and you wanna tell me that it's _not_ Luke's?"

Lorelai let out a sigh and rubbed her temples. "If you really think it's Luke's, then maybe it is."

"And you're telling me…?"

"I'm telling you that it's Luke's. What do you wanna hear?"

"The truth would be fine. What's going between the two of you?"

"Between me and Luke? Oh, there's nothing going on between us. We're just friends, and you know that." Lorelai let out a nervous laugh.

"That's funny, because I had the impression that you two are _more_ than just friends."

"Oh please." Lorelai turned around and took a sip from her coffee.

"Yesterday night, I finally got it. I thought about how Luke always wanted to talk with me about something. Must have been _really_ important. Or how you reacted when you first saw me at the Diner when Luke was in New York, helping his sister. Then yesterday, when both of you came downstairs from Luke's apartment. Your performance was so ready for the stage, I believed everything. Until I found this mysterious pipe wrench. And do you know where I found it? In Luke's toolbox. Funny, huh? And if this wouldn't be enough, Luke had some kind of dream of you. I kissed him when he was asleep and instead of saying my name, he said yours. _Yours_." Rachel threw Luke's shirt on the table, still staring at Lorelai.

"Just because he said my name doesn't…."

"Doesn't mean what? I'm not stupid, Lorelai."

"I didn't say that, it's just…" Lorelai stopped and let out a sigh, leaning against the countertop of her kitchen. "You're jumping into conclusions."

Rachel laughed, "Are you listening to yourself? Do you believe one single word you're saying?"

"It's…" she looked down on the floor, trying to think what to say. There was an awkward silence between them. But after a minute, Lorelai looked up again. "Fine, you're right."

"So Luke and you are having an affair. How great." Rachel threw her hands into the air.

"I wouldn't call it an _affair_." Lorelai shook her head, frowning slightly.

"Then what? You jumped into our relationship and stole my man. How do you wanna call it then?" Rachel remarked upset.

Lorelai's mouth dropped open. She shook her head and closed her eyes, "Oh my god, I don't believe this."

"Who you're telling this?"

"First of all…" Lorelai started, "… steeling _my man_? We're not talking about an object, we're talking about _Luke_. You don't possess him so it's definitely wrong to say that I stole him from you, okay? Next thing, I didn't jump into _anything_. There was no relationship between the two of you because you left. So whatever you guys had in the past, was over. _Over_!" she emphasized clearly before she continued. "Or did you believe that after you left him all those years ago, that he was waiting for you? That he had nothing better to do as wait for the day until you're ready or not to come back? Ready for sharing your life with him? Caring for him? Because then you're wrong. What you're doing is just selfish. You can't go away and assume that nothing has changed in the time you were gone. Luke has a life. And this life hasn't stopped because you had your reasons to leave town. Reasons which apparently were more important than Luke. Otherwise you would've stayed with him in this crazy little town. Because when you're _really_ in love with someone, you have to put back things to make the other person happy. That's what you're doing when you're in a real relationship. Assure your partner that you're there for him, no matter what." Lorelai finished a little out of breath, giving Rachel a fretful look.

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh please." Lorelai shook her head, pressing her fingers to her eyes.

"Luke will come back to me. I know he will. You were just a fill-in. Nothing serious, just a distraction."

"That's not true." Lorelai shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course." Lorelai glared at her. "Luke and I are dating. We're seeing each other if you like it or not. We're together now. "

"I wouldn't be so sure about it." She took one quick glance at Luke's shirt and then back to Lorelai. "You'll see." She added before she turned on her heels and rushed out of the house.

Lorelai breathed out heavily before she ran her fingers through her hair. Hesitantly she grabbed Luke's shirt and walked into the living room where she fell onto the sofa.

A few minutes later she reached for the phone and dialled Luke's number.

"Hallo?" he answered.

"Hey, it's me." Lorelai said and laid her head back on the sofa, rubbing her forehead with one hand.

"Oh hey."

"Bad time?"

"Nah, it's okay. Is something wrong?" He asked, worried.

"Uhm…"

"Lorelai?"

"Do you remember what you told me that day when you broke into my room? That you lo… like me and that I'm the one you want?" Lorelai asked carefully.

"Yeah sure."

"Just promise me that you won't change your mind."

"Of course not. What makes you think that?"

After a few seconds of silence Lorelai said, "She knew everything."

"Who knows what? Can you talk in sentences that make some sense please?" He told her laughing.

"Rachel was here and… she knows about us now. "

"What?"

** xxxxxxxx **

**To be continued...  
****Please R&R! Thanks! :) **


	15. Chapter 15

** Chapter 15**

"I'm sorry Luke. I'm _so_ sorry."

"Lorelai…"

"Why didn't I go to work as usual? I wouldn't have opened that door and there would have been no fight and… and your shirt… why did I drop it there, I mean… I should've stored it in my room. Besides this… I so suck at lying. I really don't believe this… I mean, I lied to my parents like thousand times and it always worked. Well almost always. But today? I don't know… this whole situation… I…I couldn't even think… "

"Hey, would you please calm down?"

Lorelai sighed out heavily, "Luke, I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"No it's not. Nothing is okay, Luke."

"What are you talking about?"

Lorelai stayed silent and inhaled the scent of Luke's shirt. "This."

"What?"

"This whole thing, Luke. Maybe it's just wrong."

"What? Why are you saying this?"

"I have to go. Paperwork is waiting."

"Let's talk about this."

"I have to go. Bye." She said and ended the call. She curled up on the sofa and thought about Rachel's words.

** xxxxxx**

Luke looked at the phone before he put it back down.

_ What the hell happened over there? _

"Cesar, can you do me a favour?" Luke asked.

"Sure, whatever you want, man."

"Good. You're in charge." Luke grabbed his car keys and hurried out of the Diner where he saw Rachel coming up to him but he ignored her. He climbed into his truck and made his way to Lorelai's house.

A few minutes later he headed up to her front door and rang the bell.

Groaning, Lorelai got up from the sofa and walked to the door. "You're better not coming back, Rachel." She opened the door and saw Luke. "Oh, hey."

"Can I come in?"

Lorelai shrugged and opened the door wider to let him in. "I was just busy. I don't really like this kind of stuff and I'm late and…" she said while she walked into the kitchen where she sat down on the chair, opening one of the folders.

"Lorelai?"

"I can't believe I have to do this. I didn't even finish my business class yet. I really should hire people to do that for me…." She flipped through the folder, avoiding Luke's gaze. "…otherwise I'll be the ruin of the hotel. I can see the headlines already." She shook her head with a sigh.

"Lorelai?"

"You want some coffee? No of course not. My mistake, you don't drink coffee but I really need one." She got up and walked over to grab the coffee pot and poured more coffee into her mug. Her hand was shaking slightly that half of the coffee spilled over the table and over her papers.

"Oh god, no no no." Immediately she searched for the kitchen towel. She soaked up the spilled coffee when she accidentally shoved her mug from the table and it shattered on the floor. "And it keeps getting better. Oh god, how stupid can one person be?" she asked, burying her face into her hands.

"Hey hey…" Luke walked over to her and turned her around to gather her into his arms. "Come here."

"Luke." Lorelai sobbed and glided her hands on his back, clutching his shirt tightly.

After a moment she pulled apart and looked on the floor, "Look what I've done, I have to clean this up." She was about to kneel down on the floor to pick up the pieces but Luke stopped her.

"No no, c'mon… let's go into the living room." He grabbed her hand to lead her out of the kitchen.

"But look at this. I can't…"

"I'll clean it up for you later." He walked with her to the sofa and gestured her to sit down.

Hesitantly she plopped onto the sofa where Luke joined her.

"Now tell me what happened?"

"You don't wanna know."

"I _do_ wanna know." Luke nodded, raising his eyebrows.

"No, believe me. You _don't_."

"Lorelai, tell me."

Lorelai shook her head and looked away from him.

"What did you do? Strangle her and now you're hiding her dead body in the basement?"

"No." Lorelai shook her head, laughing. "I didn't."

"See, then what could be worse?" he asked, smiling.

"Well, let me think. Ah, yeah… _me,_ lying dead in the basement for example?"

"Right. But as I can see, you're pretty much alive." He propped his elbow on the back of the couch while he was caressing her forearm. "So?"

She let out a sigh and turned to look at him. "Okay, good. Uhm... Rachel came and everything was fine. We drank coffee and then we talked and.. and the hint with the tool. Very clever. God, she enjoyed this so much."

"What?"

She ignored him and continued, "Later she asked me to use the bathroom where she found the shirt."

"What shirt?" Luke asked confused.

"Your shirt." She grabbed it and held it out to Luke. "This shirt. Remember? The one I wouldn't give you back. And she asked me all those questions and pointed out that it's yours because she bought it for you years ago. Can you believe this? From all the shirts in your closet I picked the one from Rachel. You could've told me."

"I don't even remember she gave me a shirt one day. What happened then?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, then? Well, I denied everything. But then she pointed out that we're having an affair behind her back and that I stole you from her. Can you believe this? God! And that's how the fight began because I couldn't let her say those things. Maybe I should've ignored her, but I couldn't. And I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry about."

"Sure there is. It's all my fault. You know me. You know that I can't stop when I get angry."

"Hey, what are you saying. It's _not_ your fault."

Lorelai nodded, "Yes, it is."

"No, it's my fault. I should've told her earlier what's going on between us. Then nothing of this would've happened."

Lorelai thought for a moment before she turned to look at him, "You're right. It _is_ your fault." A slow smile was forming on her lips.

"See." He reached for her hand and intertwined her fingers with his.

"But there's more." She looked down at their hands.

"Okay."

"Uhm, after I told her that we're seeing each other and that we're dating..." she looked up at him, "...wait. Dating? We didn't even have a date yet."

"I know but we will."

"Really?"

"Sure."

"I mean, she told me that you're coming back to her anyway. And…and maybe she's right. She was your first love. And you never forget the first love and... and if there's a chance to go back to her, then you don't..."

"The fact that she was my first love doesn't make her my true love."

"No?"

"No!" Luke said, shaking his head. "Or what do you think? Is Christopher your true love?" he asked carefully.

He was right. Christopher was her first boyfriend and her first love. And maybe at the age of fifteen, she pictured how her life would be with him. But not today, not anymore. She barely saw him the last years, just when he came by for a short visit to see his daughter. And these times were so rare that she could count them on one hand.

No, these times were she pictured a life with Christopher were definitely over.

What Lorelai really needed in her life was something constant. Or better _someone_. And this someone was Luke. And he was it over all those years even if she didn't see it. Or wanna see it. But now she knew that she didn't want to lose this. Long years of friendship, where both were able to depend on each other, in whatever situation. In good times, or bad times. Yes, she definitely didn't want to lose this.

"Lorelai?"

She blinked and looked at him. Luke's eyes were focused on her, waiting for an answer. She could see a sudden expression of uncertainty on his face as she didn't answer him.

She lifted a hand on his cheek, running her fingertips slightly over his stubble. Finally she whispered, "No, he's not."

His expression softened and his lips twitched into a smile, "Good."

"Luke?"

"Yeah?"

"Hold me, please."

Without saying anything, he pulled her close. Her head rested against his chest while his hands went around her waist, slowly rubbing her back.

After a few minutes Lorelai pulled apart to look at him, "I don't wanna lose you, Luke." She whispered.

"You won't."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I won't let it happen." He brushed a loose strand of hair from her face, still looking at her.

"But what if…"

"Stop being so pessimistic, Lorelai. That's so not you."

"I know." She sighed, looking down.

"And now smile."

"What am I? A dog?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure if dogs can smile." Luke pointed out.

She looked up and a slow smile spread into her feature.

"That's better."

"So, what are we going to do know? I mean, about Rachel?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, I'm going to tell her that I want her out of my apartment, as soon as possible. But I assume that she'll leave Stars Hollow anyway. I'm sure she doesn't want to stay now that she knows about us."

"I hope so." Lorelai said and looked at Luke, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"No, it's okay. I don't want her here anyway."

"You know what? I think it's better if we don't tell them."

"Tell what? And who?"

"The town. The people. About us. I don't want them to think that I'm the reason that you broke up with Rachel."

"In some way, you are the reason." he smiled. "But you didn't destroy anything. It was over a long time."

"Anyway, I don't want any gossip. Just for the next few days, okay?"

"Sure. I don't want that eiter." Luke nodded, smiling.

Lorelai nodded and looked at her watch, "Oh no, it's almost eleven and I haven't done anything. Michel is _so_ going to kill me."

"And I have to go back to the Diner." He got up from the sofa.

"Do you have a few more minutes?" she looked at him.

"Sure. Why?"

"Just have to get dressed. I'll be right back." She headed upstairs while Luke walked into the kitchen to clean the floor from the shattered glass.

** xxxxxxx**

"You want me to give you a ride?" Luke asked her, while they walked to their cars.

"Nah, it's okay. I'll take my jeep." Lorelai said and opened the door of her car to climb in.

"Okay." He closed the door and looked at her through the open window. "You okay now?"

She turned to look at him and nodded, "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good. Don't let this thing with Rachel get to you. Promise me that, okay? That's not worth it."

"I know." She smiled, "I'm glad you came to my house even if you should be at the Diner right now."

"You're welcome." He looked at her hesitantly.

"Now you see how irresistible I am." She said grinning.

"Definitely."

"Luke? When will be our first date?" she asked curiously, biting her lower lip.

"When do you want it to be?"

"Hmm…" she scratched her chin before she looked back at him, "…soon."

"Okay, then soon." Luke answered, smiling.

She looked at the clock in her jeep, "Okay, I really gotta go now. I'll come to the Diner later today."

"Okay, I'm waiting for you. And so is my coffee."

"Sounds good. And what about a burger? Fries? Pie? Pancakes?" she asked him with a little voice.

"Lorelai."

"Okay okay." She gave him her sweetest smile, "See you later."

"Yeah, later." He looked at her.

"Bye." She hesitated a moment before she reached behind his neck and pulled him down into a gentle kiss.

"Maybe we should…" he started after they pulled apart but Lorelai pulled him down for a second his. Luke grabbed the window frame of her car tightly while he was half leaning inside her car.

"Bye!" she grinned and started her car.

** xxxxx**

_ Around Lunchtime_

Lorelai entered the Diner, "Luuuke, I need coffee." She began and watched him taking orders on one of the tables.

"Hey." He made his way into the kitchen and Lorelai groaned.

"Luke, where are you going? I need coffee."

"Just a second." He gave her one last glance before he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Hey Lorelai." Kirk greeted her. "Hold on. He'll be right back."

"Gah!" Lorelai let out and walked behind the counter.

"What are you doing? Luke doesn't want people behind his counter." Kirk told her, shaking his head.

"I know, I know." She grabbed a mug and poured some coffee into it.

"Hey, what are you doing back here?" she heard a voice behind her and turned round, watching him over the rim over her mug while she was drinking her coffee. When she emptied her mug, she placed it on the counter and looked back at him, batting her eyelashes ever so innocently. "Why?"

He couldn't help but smile at her expression but he tried to stay serious.

"Uhm, you wouldn't give me coffee."

"That's not true. I told you I'll be right back to give you your coffee." He watched her as she refilled her coffee cup.

"I just…" she glanced at him, "…I'm just trying to relieve you from some of your work. You should be thankful." She nodded and took a sip from her second cup.

"You do know that _this_…" he gestured around, "…is working area. My working area. Which means, you can come back here when you're working here. Not when you're a customer." He told her seriously because he knew that Kirk was watching them from the other side of the counter.

Lorelai grinned, "I know. But I'm not _any_ customer. I'm your customer of the week. No, the month. No no no, the _year_. I keep this business of yours alive. Without me you wouldn't have that much income."

Luke rolled his eyes and tried to hide his smile. "Says who?"

"Well…" she looked around and then pointed at herself, "…me of course."

"Who would have thought it." He chuckled.

"So." Lorelai began.

"So?"

Lorelai took a quick glance at Kirk who was still watching them while he ate his piece of pie. "Uhm, I was wondering if…"

"The thing we talked about earlier?" Luke asked, curiously.

She nodded slowly, "Did you…"

"No. Not yet. I…" he shifted uncomfortably with his feet because he knew that Kirk followed their conversation, "I couldn't find… you know."

"Oh, okay." Lorelai nodded, "But today… you wanted to do it today, right?"

"Sure."

"Good." She smiled at him and after a few seconds of silence she continued, "I assume that you don't like it if I go into the kitchen and…"

"No." he shoved her away from behind the counter.

"Okay okay." She laughed, "Just joking. Cheeseburger and fries." She told him while she walked to one of the tables.

"Okay, I'll be right back."

She sat down on one of the chairs when the door opened and Rachel walked in.

It was right then, when Luke came back out of the kitchen to bring her more coffee when he saw Rachel. With a quick glance at Lorelai he turned to Rachel and began, "Finally."

Rachel saw Lorelai and rolled her eyes, "Is she always there?"

"Excuse me?" Lorelai looked up from her calender, frowning.

"Yes but that's none of your business." Luke told her, "We're going upstairs. I want to talk to you about something."

"About what?" Rachel asked him with her hands on her hips.

"Upstairs." he pointed with his head towards the stairs.

"If there's something you wanna tell me, then do it here."

"Rachel."

"What Luke? What do you wanna tell me that you can't tell me here, in front of all those people. What?"

Luke leaned forward and whispered angrily, "I warn you, don't make a scene."

Rachels eyes grew wide, "If I'm making a scene, then it is _your_ fault."

Luke shook his head in frustration and took a deep breath, "Come upstairs and we discuss everything." He grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the stairs to his apartment.

**xxxxxxx**

**To be continued... Please R&R! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

** Chapter 16**

"Hey, what are you doing?" Rachel asked angrily while Luke led her up to his apartment.

"I told you we need to talk." He said, closing the door to his apartment and turned back to her.

"What if I don't want to?" she stated with her hands on her hips.

"I don't care. Then I talk and you listen."

Rachel folded her arms over her chest, her eyes focused on him, "So?"

"First of all, what the hell do you think by going to Lorelai's house. Who do you think you are by telling her all those things? You just can't do that, Rachel. I'm not sure what's going on in this mind of yours but we're not together anymore. So stay out of my life. Did you get that?"

"Yes, I know. We're not together anymore because of _her_. But it's okay. I understand that. You were alone and you needed someone. And Lorelai was just there. Good. But now I'm back." She told him, walking closer to him to touch his cheek but Luke shoved her hand away.

"Don't. Don't do this." He took a deep sigh. "You don't get it, do you? I don't care if you're back. I don't care if you finally decided to stay in this town because it's too late. I wanted this years ago but you left. Fine. I accepted that. It was hard, but I did. I moved on with my life. And there's no place for you anymore." He told her in a matter of fact.

"Luke… how can you say that?"

"I _can_ because it's the truth." He nodded.

"But… but I told you I'm back… for good."

Luke shrugged, "You told me that before but I don't want you back. I don't want you here." He said, hoping he didn't sound too mean.

"What?"

"I want you to move out."

Rachel's mouth fell open, "What? You're throwing me out of your apartment?"

"I'm not throwing you out. I'm just telling you to go. It's for the best okay?"

"The best? For who? You and Lorelai?"

"Leave her out of this."

"Yeah, funny. I would but I can't because she's the reason for all of this. You're supposed to be with me. Not with her."

Luke laughed, shaking his head. "I don't believe this. How can you say with who I'm supposed to be with. I just know that _this_…" he pointed from him to her, "…this is _not_ supposed to be. _We're_ not meant to be. You can't step in and out of my life and tell me what's good for me or not. That's not how it works, Rachel."

** xxxxxx**

_ Meanwhile downstairs_

Lorelai sat at her table and played with her food. It was quiet at the Diner because every customer wanted to listen to the fight of Luke and Rachel upstairs. She played with the thought to leave and head to the Inn but she couldn't let him alone now. So she stayed and sat there, feeling eyes on her every time she could hear her name upstairs.

_ Oh god, this is so not happening. _

Uncomfortably, she flipped through her calendar when suddenly the door opened and Babette and Miss Patty walked in.

"No, Jordan with the girl from the flower shop. Yes, really. I saw…" Miss Patty's words trailed off when she noticed the silence. Looking around she perceived Lorelai and walked over to her. "Hey sweetie, what's going on here?"

"Yes, Lorelai and I are together. So what? That's none of your business. Just pack your things and leave me the hell alone!" they heard Luke yelling upstairs.

Miss Patty's eyes grew wide and exchanged glances with Babette before she turned back to Lorelai, giving her a questioned look.

Lorelai cleared her throat, smiling nervously. "The pie is _so_ delicious today."

Miss Patty raised an eyebrow and her eyes travelled back to Babette, dragging her over to the counter.

Slanting a look over to them, Lorelai saw them talking, their voices just above a whisper.

Suddenly Rachel stormed down the stairs, a bag in one hand and her camera equipment in the other. Before she reached the door, she shifted her gaze to Lorelai, her eyes went grim.

"Congratulations."

Eyes narrowing, Lorelai looked at her. "Thanks. But what have I done to deserve that?"

"You won."

"What? I didn't…" Lorelai started but Rachel cut her off.

"He's yours. You can have him and I wish you all the best." She remarked sarcastically and opened the door, "We'll see how long it'll last." She added before she left the Diner, shutting the door behind her rather forcefully.

Silence filled the air and when Lorelai roamed the room she noticed every eye on her. Frowning, she spoke. "Okay, show's over, so stop looking at me."

When the noise level was up to normal again, Miss Patty and Babette approached her table. "Lorelai?"

_ Oh god, no! _

"Yes?" she said, shoving her pie aside.

"You and Luke. I saw this coming." Miss Patty said, nodding.

"Me too. It was so obvious that Luke has a thing for you. And this for years. Right?" Babette pushed Miss Patty into her side.

"Of course." She nodded eagerly and bent down, "Did you know about the pool?"

"The pool?"

"The betting pool, sweetie. When you and Luke… you know…"

Lorelai's mouth fell open, "You have a pool to bet when Luke and I get together?"

Kirk slipped from his stool and joined them on their table. "Thank you Lorelai."

"For what?"

"For dating Luke. My bet was that you two get together this month. And now it happened. I won. I won." He threw his arms in the air before he hurried out of the Diner.

Lorelai watched him through the window and shook her head. "That's crazy."

"This whole town is crazy. And you're a part of it, Sweetie." Babette said, smiling. "And now that I think about it. When I saw Luke coming out of your house a few times the last days, he was not there to repair something, right?"

"Uhm…"

Babette looked at her and noticed that she was blushing. "Okay, there's my answer but you really don't have to be embarrassed about it."

"Well, I…"

"And don't feel bad about Rachel. She gave away her chance when she left all those years ago. We all know that, even Rachel but she didn't wanna see it."

"Maybe. It's just… everyone will think that I'm the reason he broke up with her."

"Is it the truth?" Miss Patty asked carefully.

"No no, of course not. I mean, Rachel came back and I don't know why but she assumed that they're back together. But… but they weren't because we're seeing each other for almost a week now and I… and… and he was just trying to…"

"Sugar, calm down. No one will think it's your fault. We're all happy that you found each other." Babette assured her smiling. "But now I have to go. I need something from Doose's Market. Bye, hon'."

"Bye Babette."

"Wait, I'm coming with you." Miss Patty threw in and they left the Diner.

Now that the Diner was almost empty, she walked to the counter where Cesar made fresh coffee. "I just go upstairs and check on Luke."

"Sure." he said and gave her a wink.

Lorelai nodded and headed up the stairs, seeing Luke standing at the window.

"Hey."

"Hey." He answered, turning around to look at her.

"You okay?" she asked, slowly moving towards him.

"Sure."

"Soo… she's gone."

"Yeah. She's gone." He repeated, still looking at her.

"And, are you happy about it or…?" Lorelai asked, now standing in front of him.

"I guess." He grabbed her hands.

"Everyone knows it."

"That she's gone?"

"No, about you and me. _Us_."

"What?"

"Luke, you were yelling and the Diner was full of people. What did you expect?" Lorelai asked with a small smile on her lips.

"Well, okay. So they know. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"We couldn't hide it forever. Besides this, I don't want this to be a secret."

"Neither do I."

"Good." She said and wrapped her arms around his waist. And after a few seconds she continued, "Did you know about the betting pool they opened for us? Kirk thanked me because it seems like he's a rich man now." She said and looked up at him.

"What?"

"Never mind." She grinned before she leaned in to give him a kiss.

**xxxxxxxxx**

**I hope you liked this chapter. And I'm still not sure if I should continue or not. I could finish the story here because Rachel is gone now. But if you guys want, I can continue. Just in case you want to know about their first date and everything. :)  
  
Thanks guys for all your nice reviews. They mean a lot to me. :)   
Oh and _Deh_, you mentioned in your review that you forgot about the date because of their already"sleeping together". Well, I have to disappoint you but they haven't. LOL Well, not yet! :-P  
Okay, so please let me know if you want this story to go on. Maybe you would have some things you wanna see happening. Just let me know.  
Don't forget to review! Thanks. :D **


	17. Chapter 17

**Thanks guys, for your nice reviews. :) I decided to continue with that story. At least a little bit. I mean, they didn't even have a date, right?  
Okay, I know it's been a while since my last update but I was extremely busy with college and stuff. So I hope you still want to read my story.  
So here's the next chapter, I hope you like it... and please review! Thanks! :D**

**xxxxxxxxx **

**Chapter 17**

Lorelai and Rory entered Luke's Diner Wednesday evening. When Luke heard the bells, he yelled from the store room. "Just a second."

"Oh, honey. You better hurry." Lorelai answered so that he could hear it.

A few seconds later he came out from the back with a new carton of napkins, "Hey." He greeted them both and then turned to Lorelai. "Did you just call me honey?"

"Yeah." Lorelai said, grinning. "Don't you like that?"

"You're just lucky that the Diner is empty." He said, chuckling.

"Aw, you weren't complaining about that last night." She answered, still grinning.

"Lorelai."

"Anyway." She tried to change the subject. "Coffee to go please."

Grabbing the coffee pot, he turned back to them. "There you go." He said and poured coffee in two plastic cups.

"Give me all the coffee you have."

"Dinner with your parents, right?" Luke asked sympathetically.

Lorelai nodded slightly and looked at him. "I don't wanna go." She pouted.

"Oh c'mon, Mom. It's not going to be _that_ bad."

"Huh, easy to say because you know they like you." She thought for a moment and then continued. "Oh oh, I have an idea. You could tell them that I've an important meeting at the Inn that I couldn't skip…"

"Mom."

"Or uhm… that I'm not feeling well. This could be true because Sookie wanted me to taste her new sauce and I can tell ya, that was a weird combination of ingredients." She wrinkled her nose.

"Mom." Rory urged impatiently.

"Oh no. Better idea. I broke my leg when I was chasing this little bird of yours through our living room. Stumbled over a pile of books next to the sofa and _wham_! It doesn't have to be a serious fracture. Just serious enough that I'm not able to join you to the… let's say, next few Friday night dinners and..."

"Okay, stop it. You promised grandma to come. Besides this, you can't leave me alone."

Lorelai sighed and looked at Luke, "It was worth the try."

"Yeah, you planned out everything so well." He shook his head grinning.

"Not funny, Mister." She reached for her cup. "So, are we still on for tomorrow night?"

"Absolutely."

"Good." She smiled, leaned over the counter and gave him a quick kiss. "Bye."

** xxxxxxx**

_ In the car on their way to Hartford_

"So, what's tomorrow night?" Rory asked curiously.

"Oh, our first date."

"Really? Aw, finally." Rory nodded smiling.

"Who you're telling this. But now that this whole Rachel thing is solved, it's really about time."

"And what are your plans?"

"We're going out for dinner and then… we'll see." Lorelai said grinning while she parked the car in front of her parent's house.

"So, are you going to tell them?" Rory asked after they climbed out of the car and made their way to the front door.

"What?"

"About Luke. That you're seeing him."

"Oh, _that_. No." Lorelai shook her head and emptied the coffee in her hand in one big sip.

"No? Why not?"

Lorelai let out a small laugh, "Rory. What do you mean with _why not_? You know my parents."

"So you're going to lie about it?"

"No. I just don't tell them."

"It's the same."

"No, it's not. Look, this thing with Luke and me, is all new and so great. I don't want them to ruin that. And I'm sure they will." Lorelai said matter of factly.

"But you don't know that. Maybe they're happy for you."

"You do know that we're talking about Emily and Richard, do you?" she said and rang the bell.

Suddenly the door burst open, "You're late."

"Uhm, nice to see you too, Mom." Lorelai rolled her eyes and they entered the house, slipping out of their coats to hand them to the maid.

"You're late, Lorelai. Why is it that you're never on time? That's the most impolite thing that you can do when someone invites you."

"But it's…"

"No, don't tell me it's just _us_ because it's impolite anyway." She looked at them. "Rory, you look beautiful, like always."

"Thanks, grandma."

"You're welcome." Emily told her with a smile but it vanished when she looked at Lorelai. "Is that a dress?"

Frowning, Lorelai looked down at herself. "That's what they told me when I bought it."

"Was it the only dress they had there?"

"No, of course not. But I liked it."

Emily shook her head, "Next time you go shopping with your daughter. She has more sense for clothes than you have." She said and moved around, heading towards the living room. "So, come on in. It's time to introduce you to our guests."

Lorelai had no time to counter to Emily's clothes speech and turned to Rory, "Guests? She didn't say anything about other Guests."

"Don't look at me like this. You talked to her on the phone."

"This is our daughter Lorelai and her daughter Rory." Emily told them with a smile. "Lorelai, these are Claire and Michael, and their son Wilbur. They're friends of us. Michael and Wilbur work in the same company like your father."

Lorelai forced a smile, "Nice to meet you." Rory did the same.

After Emily made sure that everyone has a drink they sat down and began to talk.

"Rory, how's school?" Richard started.

"It's fine, grandpa. I got an A on my last research paper." She told him proudly.

"Congratulations, Rory." He smiled and turned to Michael. "She's going to Yale one day."

"Harvard." Lorelai threw in.

"You don't know that."

"Sure, I know." Lorelai nodded. "Rory wants to go to Harvard. So she's going to Harvard."

"Harvard, Yale. Where's the difference. They're both excellent universities." Michael volunteered before he sipped on his glass of wine.

There was a silence between them before Claire broke it, "Lorelai. Your mother told me that you're managing a hotel? That's really great."

"Yes. It's the hotel of our town and it's kinda small."

"But it's very impressive how you worked yourself up and now you're the manager of it." Claire said, smiling.

"Thanks, but it's not that big a deal."

"Of course it is." Claire nodded. "I have a question. We're organizing Charity dinners for our association every now and then. Is it possible to book your hotel for one of those events any time soon?"

"Uhm, sure."

"Good, I'm glad." She smiled. "I call you in the next days so that we can arrange a date."

"Okay." Lorelai nodded smiling when she noticed Wilbur's stare. She looked at him for a while before she shifted her gaze back to Claire. "I'm really looking forward to it."

"Dinner's ready." The maid told them politely.

"Thanks, Margaret. Let's go over into the dining room." She lifted herself from the sofa and walked into the other room.

After dinner the maid served coffee and they talked about some random things until Wilbur spoke up. "Lorelai, excuse me. Can I ask you something?"

The conversations around the table got quiet and shifted their attention to Wilbur.

"Uhm, sure. What is it, Willi?"

"Lorelai." Emily said upset. "His name is Wilbur."

"I know. It's just I thought Willi would be a cool nickname." She tried to explain but stopped when she noticed Wilbur's glance. "I guess not." She murmured and looked at him. "So?"

"There's this Charity event this weekend my mother organized. It's supposed to be really nice because it's in one of those old and impressiv castles. So I wanted to ask…well… I wanted to invite you."

"Uhm…" Lorelai didn't know what to say, what rarely ever happens.

"I mean, we could go there _together_."

"Together." Lorelai repeated nervously when she felt all eyes on her.

"Yes, I could pick you up and we could go there together. It's some sort of a date if you want." He gave her a smile.

Lorelai let out a small laugh, "Willi…Wilbur, look… uhm, this sounds _really_ nice but I can't, I'm sorry." she said simply.

"Why not?"

"Yes, Lorelai… why not?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrows in curiosity.

"Because I have this thing and…" she took a quick glance at Rory, "…and I can't skip that." She cleared her throat and got up, "Excuse me. I'll be right back." She apologized and left the room but Emily followed her.

"Lorelai Gilmore."

"What Mom?" she stopped in the hallway and turned around, sighing.

"What was that?" Emily asked with her hands on her hips.

"What was _what_?"

"Wilbur asked you out. How could you turn that down?"

"Because I'm not interested, Mom. That's it, okay?"

"Not interested?" she asked, sarcastically. "You're not getting younger, Lorelai. And you're still single."

"Mom."

"What? I'm right, am I? So, now there is this really nice and polite young man who asked you out. He works in your father's company and has a good standard in the society. How possibly on earth could you turn him down? I just don't get it, Lorelai."

Lorelai touched her forehead and exhaled deeply. "Of course not."

"Then tell me, Lorelai."

"Mom, please."

"How does that look like? I have to go back in there and tell my friends why you don't want to go to this charity event with their son. Do you know in which awkward position you put me right now? That's embarrassing Lorelai. So please go back in there and tell Wilbur that you'll go out with him." Emily demanded, sternly.

"No, I won't, Mom."

"Lorelai."

"I don't even know why we're having this conversion right now. I mean, it's my decision after all with who I'm going out or not, isn't it?"

"It's not that easy, Lorelai."

"Yes, it is. And now excuse me. " She moved around and headed to one of the bathrooms.

** xxxxxxxxxx **

**To be continued... Please R&R! :) **


	18. Chapter 18

_**Thanks for your nice reviews. They mean so much to me! :) Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it!**_

**xxxxxxx**

**Chapter 18 **

"It was really nice to have you here. We should do something like this again someday." Emily said while she walked their guests to the front door.

"I'd love to, Emily." Claire told her with a smile while her husband helped her into her coat.

"Dinner was delicious, like always." Michael added.

"Thanks." She smiled. "Good bye and I'll call you, Claire."

After the guests were gone, Emily walked back into the living room where Lorelai talked to Rory. Their conversation stopped the second Emily came in. Before she could say anything, Lorelai got up and grabbed her purse.

"We gotta go now." she looked at Rory, gesturing with her head.

"Okay."

"Now?" Emily asked.

"Rory?" Lorelai said and headed into the hallway.

"Yeah, I'm coming. Excuse me, grandma." Rory followed Lorelai outside.

When Lorelai opened the door to leave, Emily grabbed her arm. "Lorelai, you can't go like that."

"Why not?" she asked, not looking at her mother.

"Because we need to talk."

Letting out a prolonged sigh, Lorelai turned around to look at her. "Rory, could you wait in the car please? I'm coming in a minute."

"But…"

"Please."

"Okay." Rory answered hesitantly. "Bye grandma." She gave her a kiss on her cheek and left the house.

"What do you want, mom?" Lorelai started, somewhat annoyed.

"Our conversation wasn't over."

She let out a small laugh, "Oh yes, I think it was."

"No, it wasn't. You just walked away. We were far from over."

"But I have nothing more to say." Lorelai pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're so like your father."

"Mom, please."

"Of course. He's the same when we're in a fight."

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "If you say so."

"I just want you to take this." Emily held out a small card.

"What's that?" raising an eyebrow, she took it. "Oh god, Mom."

"Take it and call him when you're at home." Emily told her.

"No, I won't."

"Don't be stubborn. It's just a date and he's nice. I really don't see a problem here." Emily said, almost begging.

"The problem is, that I'm not 15 anymore and you can't tell me who to date. That's it. As you can see, I'm all grown up and have my own life which means, that I'm more than capable of deciding who I'm willing to date or not."

"Yes, be proud of yourself, Lorelai. You're over thirty and still single."

_Ouch. Thanks. That was nice._ "And what if? It's none of your business, Mom. So do me a favour and keep yourself out of my life. Could you do that?" Lorelai countered, almost yelling.

"Don't talk to me like that."

"I'm talking to you, like you're talking to me." Lorelai looked at her mother, her face was unable to read. "So, is there something else aside from insulting me, Mom?"

Emily's eyes glided to the card in Lorelai's hand and back to her face. "I want you to call him."

"I told you I'm not going to this Charity party with Willi."

"Lorelai." Emily almost yelled. "For god sake, his name is Wilbur."

"You know what? I'm going." She crumpled the card in her hand and let it fall on the floor before she opened the door and headed to her car.

"Lorelai. Lorelai. Don't dare to walk away like that. Lorelai!" Emily shouted, standing at the door. But Lorelai climbed into the car and drove backwards out on the street.

"What happened?" Rory asked after a while.

"What happened? Rory, your grandmother insulted me the whole evening. That happened. _Gah_!"

"Mom, calm down please."

"No, I don't wanna calm down. I'm pissed off, Rory. I really am. And now you know why I didn't want them to know about me and Luke. She just would have killed me in front of everyone. I mean, how old am I that she tells me who to date? I told her that I didn't want to go out with that Willi guy and she kinda freaked out and made a scene. And you know what she did minutes ago? She gave me his number. Huh, if I would ever call him. Never. Have you seen him? He's _so_ not my type, just a rich, snobby guy with no sense of humour."

"He looked nice."

"So you're on her side?"

"Just kidding. You're right. Willi is weird." Rory nodded, trying to make a serious face.

When they drove through Stars Hollow they stopped in front of the Diner. Lorelai watched Luke through the window, a smile spreading across her face. "Hey, let's go get some coffee."

"I think I'll go home. I'm tired." Rory told her, yawning.

"Oh, okay. Then let's go home." Lorelai said disappointed and started the car.

"No, you can go to Luke's. I'll walk home."

"Walk home? Rory, it's dark already." Lorelai shook her head.

"It's okay. Really."

"Then I want you to take the car."

"You sure?"

"Yep. See you later." Lorelai got out of the car and walked to the front door of the Diner.

Slightly, she knocked on the door and waited until Luke looked up. With a smile he walked to the door and opened it. "Hey."

"Hey back." She said and leaned forward to give him a small kiss. "Can I come in? Or were you just about to…"

"No no, come in." he said and closed the door behind her. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Wow, it's amazing that you always know what I need." She told him with a small smile and sat down at the counter, looking at him while he was making fresh coffee.

"How was dinner with your parents?" Luke started with his back to her. When he heard her sighing he turned around. "That bad?"

"Yeah, you could say so. I definitely should've tried the '_broken leg thing'_."

"What happened?" he asked concerning while he poured her a cup of coffee.

After Lorelai took a big sip, she answered. "Oh, you don't wanna know. Besides this, I don't want to annoy you with the Emily Gilmore craziness."

"You don't."

Closing her eyes, she let out another sigh. "You have no idea how much I regret that I asked them for money for Rory's school. I can't stand to go to this Friday night dinners anymore. Today was just horrible."

"What exactly?" he asked and walked around the counter to sit down on the stool next to her.

"Everything. From the very first second till the end. I had a huge fight with my mother. She attacked me the whole night."

"Attacked?" Luke asked frowning.

"Yeah. About this and that. For example because we weren't on time. Oh sorry, how could I know that there's going to be an accident on the way to Hartford and we got stuck in traffic for twenty minutes. Then she complained about my dress too. It's new and it was expensive and… and I liked it, so I bought it. And if _she_ doesn't like it, then it's really not my problem because I do."

"I like your dress too." His eyes travelled down to her dress and back to her eyes. "You look beautiful."

"Aw, really? You're not just saying this to make me feel better?" her lips twitched into a small grin.

"No way. I'm just telling the truth here." Luke said, looking at her intently.

"You're so sweet. But if you like my dress, then look at my shoes and how perfectly they're matching." She stretched out her leg.

Luke's eyes glided down her legs ever so slowly until he looked at her shoes. "Yeah… I… I'm impressed."

"So, you like what you see?" she grinned, noticing his look.

"Definitely."

"Good, good. Because they were expensive, too." She took a sip from her coffee again before she continued. "Oh, and the best is yet to come."

"There's more?"

"Yep, something that might interest you... or not. I don't know."

"Okay, what?"

"Well, uhm… Willi asked me out on a date." She slipped from her stool and walked behind the counter. "Oh, can I have one of these?" Lorelai asked, taking a doughnut.

"Whoa, wait. Who's Willi?"

"Actually his name is Wilbur. And my Mom wanted me to go out with him. " Lorelai clarified.

"Wilbur? Ah geez."

Lorelai let out a laugh. "Poor guy, huh? Well, but he's the son of friends of my parents. And after looking at me during the entire dinner, he asked me out."

"Uh-huh." He said and joined her behind the counter. "And what did you say?"

"Well, I told him to pick me up at 8 tomorrow night." She said shrugging and moved around to look at him.

"No, you didn't." Luke told her in a deep voice, shaking his head slightly.

"What makes you think that?" she teased, grinning.

"Because…" he simply moved into her until Lorelai was pressed against the counter. Slowly, he ran his hands over her shoulders and down her body. All the time his eyes focused so intently on her.

"Because… what?" she stammered, closing her eyes for a moment. His touch was steeling her breath.

"Because you're not free tomorrow night."

"Really?" she asked, innocently.

"Yes."

"Oh… I… I think that slipped my mind somehow." She looked up at him, smiling shyly.

"You forgot about our first date?" he asked softly and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Well, I…" but before Lorelai could finish her sentence, his mouth was on hers ever so softly. Slowly she reached up and cupped Luke's face, trailing her fingers over his stubble, while their kiss became more demanding.

"Oh god." She mumbled between their kisses. If he wouldn't stop right now, she could not guarantee for anything. "I… I…" she pulled apart, looking at him out of breath. "...I think I remember again now."

"Yeah?"

Lorelai nodded, biting her lower lip and playing with the collar of Luke's shirt.

"Sooo, what's with that Wilbur guy now?"

"Wilbur? Who's Wilbur? Never heard that name before. " she said grinning.

"Good answer. So, are you going to wear that dress tomorrow again? I really like it, you know?" he said seductively.

"You haven't told me where we're going, so I don't know what I'm going to wear. Any suggestions? "

"That dress is perfect."

"Really? But I can't wear the same outfit two days in a row."

"Why?"

"Because... I can't. There're so many other dresses in my closets which want to see the big world." she grinned back at him.

"Every dress like_ this_ is alright for me."

"Like this?" she threw her arms around Luke's neck, looking into his eyes. "So, you're bringing me to a fancy restaurant?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe? Maybe like in, maybe I planned something or maybe but I have no idea what we're going to to?"

Luke laughed, "Just wait and see."

"That's mean." She thought for a moment before she continued. "But you planned something, right?"

"Of course." He said smiling, his arms still around her waist.

"Good, okay." She looked down before her eyes searched his again." Uhm, Luke?"

"Yes?"

"Our first date." Her smile grew wider. "That's…that's just…"

"Wonderful?" Luke finished for her.

"Yeah." She sighed happily. "I can't wait till tomorrow night."

"Neither can I."

They looked at each other for a moment before Lorelai broke the silence. "Well, I think uhm… I better go now."

"Okay." Luke walked with her to the door and opened it. "I'm glad you came."

"Me too. But… uhm, I really needed that. No, wrong… I needed _you_ after that dinner with my parents."

Luke's lips twitched into a smile. "Nice to hear that. Good night, Lorelai."

"Night, Luke." She smiled at him and walked out of the Diner.

**xxxxxxxx**

_**To be continued... Please R & R! :)  
Btw, next chapter is going to be the date! Hehe :) **_


	19. Chapter 19

_**Thanks for all who reviewed my previous chapter. I know, all of you waited for their first date. So, here it is. Don't know if it's like you expected it to be LOL ... but well, I tried my best. :)**_

**xxxxxxxx**

**Chapter 19**

The bell rang and Rory hurried to open the door. „Hey Luke, you're early." She gestured him inside. "Mom needs a few more minutes."

"Sure, no problem." He walked into the living room.

"Wow, Luke. I've never seen you in a suit before." Rory grinned and looked him over.

"Yeah, could be true." He nervously played with the rose in his hand. "I hope it's not that obvious that I'm not feeling really comfortable in it."

"Uhm no." Rory told him and smiled when her eyes fell on the rose in his hand.

"Good, good."

"Okay, I go and check on her." She ran upstairs.

A few minutes later Lorelai came downstairs, wearing a dark red dress, her dark brown hair falling curly over her shoulders. "Hey."

Turning around, Luke met her eyes. "Hey. Wow, you… you look beautiful."

"Really?" a smile covered her face. "You don't look so bad either."

"That was quite a compliment." Luke chuckled, his eyes still focused on her.

"You bet." She walked over to him, giving him a small peck on the lips. "You look great. I always wanted to see you in a suit, you know." She grinned before her eyes fell on the red rose in his hand. "Aw, is it for me?"

"What?" he asked confusing.

"The rose."

"Oh yes, the rose. Sure. It's for you. Here." He handed it to her, smiling.

"Thank you." She leant forward again and met his lips in a gentle kiss.

"Aw, you two are too cute for words." Rory said, watching them from the stairs.

Pulling apart, Lorelai smiled. "Luke definitely is."

"Lorelai."

"What?" she grinned before she turned around to Rory. "Can you put it in some water, please?"

She took the rose, "Sure. Have fun you two."

"We will. I'm sure we will." She slipped her hands around Luke's arm and leant against his shoulder.

"When are you going to be back home?" Rory asked curiously.

"Well, I don't know _Mom_." She emphasized the last word, which made Rory grin. "Why are you asking? Is there a curfew?"

"Watch your mouth or there will be one." Rory put her hands on her hips, trying to give her mother a serious face.

"Uhhh, did you hear that Luke? She doesn't want me to get out with you. I think I'll sneak out my window like always. Just wait outside." She gave him a grin and Luke rolled his eyes in reply.

"We should go now. Our reservation is for 7.45." Luke said, helping her in her coat.

"Okay. Rory, don't wait for me. And don't do anything that I wouldn't do myself, okay?"

Rory laughed, "Sure. Bye!"

** xxxxxxx**

_ In the restaurant_

"Wow, Luke. I love this place." Lorelai bent forward and whispered. "I was definitely right with the fancy restaurant, was I?"

"I'm glad you like it." Luke gave her a smile.

"I do, I do." She smiled back at him before she took a sip from her champagne. She watched him over the rim of her glass and noticed how he was looking at her. "What?" she asked, grinning after she placed the glass back on the table.

"Hm?"

"Stop looking at me like that." She looked down, grinning.

Luke bent forward, "How am I looking at you?"

She met his eyes again. "Exactly how you're looking at me right now."

"I don't make you nervous, do I?" he asked her in a deep voice.

"Uhm…" she started but stopped when Luke reached for her hand, caressing the palm with his thumbs. She swallowed before she continued grinning. "You don't want to persuade me of skipping dinner and bringing me upstairs into one of their rooms, do you?"

"Of course not." Luke couldn't hide a small laugh. "Only if you want to."

She gave him a thoughtful expression before she answered. "No, I'm sorry, I don't think so. I'm starving, you know?"

"Same here."

"And I heard that the food is delicious here. It'd be a shame if we wouldn't give it a try, right?"

"Yep, definitely." Luke took the menu and flipped through the pages.

"But…"

Luke looked up, raising his eyebrows. "But… _what_?"

She shifted closer to him and leant forward to whisper into his ear. "Maybe we could make some special plans for dessert."

"Special plans?" he repeated.

"Yeah."

"What kind of plans?" he asked though he knew what she was talking about.

She touched his cheek with one hand when she leant forward again, closer to his ear so that he could feel her breath on his neck. "I'm sure we can think of something."

"Probably, yeah." He pulled back and focused his eyes on her for a short moment before he rubbed his lips over hers, ever so softly.

"Lorelai?" they suddenly heard a voice and jumped apart.

Placing a hand on her heart, Lorelai looked up and found her mother standing in front of their table, staring at them.

Taking a deep breath, she stuttered. "Mother. What… what are you doing here?"

Emily's eyes wandered to Luke before she turned her attention back to Lorelai. "Having dinner with my friends of the 'Woman association'." She told her daughter. "You?"

"Me? I mean we… we're having dinner too. That's what people do in a restaurant, isn't it?" Lorelai took a quick glance at Luke.

"Uhm, nice to meet you, Mrs. Gilmore." Luke said uncomfortable.

"Hello." Emily greeted him nonchalantly.

"Mom, this is Luke."

"Yes, I know. We've met before. At Rory's birthday party, at the hospital." she said, expressionless.

"You're right." Lorelai waited for a moment but Emily stayed silent. "So, is there something else?"

"I was just wondering, if we could talk for a second?"

"Yeah, shoot." Lorelai said before she sipped from her champagne again, wishing it would've been whiskey or scotch.

"Just the two of us."

"Well, as you can see that's not possible apart from leaving the restaurant which I'm definitely not going to do. So just say it before our food arrives." Lorelai lifted her brows and waited.

Emily's eyes wandered to Luke one last time before she started. "I thought maybe you want to bring Luke to dinner tomorrow night."

"Uhm…what?"

"I asked you to bring Luke to dinner tomorrow."

"Tomorrow."

"Yes."

"For dinner."

"Yes."

"_Your_ Friday night dinner." Lorelai repeated.

"Yes Lorelai. Of course _our_ Friday night dinner. Who else invites you to dinner every Friday?"

"Well, unfortunately…" she trailed off and glanced at Luke. "Look, I don't think that Luke can…"

"It was just a question, Lorelai."

"I know and I'm just trying to say that he…"

"Mrs. Gilmore, your invitation is really nice." Luke threw in. "Though I'm not sure if I can manage it. The Diner is pretty busy around Friday night and I'm not sure if I can find some help in such a short time."

"I understand. Well, just let me know if you're going to change your mind." She looked down at him.

"No, it's not that I don't want to. It's just I'm not sure if I'll…" Luke tried to explain but she stopped him.

"It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself to me. So maybe we see each other tomorrow. And Lorelai, "She turned to look at her daughter. "We _do_ see each other."

"Yes, we do." She said under her breath.

"Good. Then see you tomorrow." Emily turned on her heels and walked away.

Lorelai pressed her fingers to her eyes, "I don't believe this."

"What?" Luke asked.

"Is she gone? Please tell me, that when I open my eyes, she is gone."

"Uhm, she's not at our table anymore."

"This sounds like there's going to be a _but_."

"Well..."

Lorelai opened her eyes and looked at him confused. "What? What does that mean?"

"She's sitting over there, having dinner with her friends like she told us before." Luke told her calmly.

"Facing us, of course. Am I right?" she asked, her eyes still on Luke.

Luke nodded hesitantly.

Lorelai turned to look at the table, Luke gestured a few seconds ago. "Oh my god, this is _so_ not happening."

"Lorelai."

"This is our first date. I don't want to have my mother around on our first date, watching our every move."

"I don't think she's going to watch us." Luke reached for her hand.

"Of course she will. This is Emily Gilmore, Luke. My _mother_." She emphasized the last word slowly and clearly. "Every time when I'll think back to our first date, there's this picture of my mother, which won't go away."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't say that. How could you know that my mother is going to be here. Sometimes I have that strange feeling that she's following me."

"Okay, that's ridiculous and you know that." Luke said, shooting her a small grin.

"Yeah, I guess."

"You wanna go somewhere else?" Luke suggested, caressing her hand with his thumbs.

"No." she shook her head, giving him a smile. "You planning this was _so_ sweet. And like I told you before, I love this place. I just have to ignore the fact that my mother is sitting over there, observing us."

"Relax."

"I try, I try." She nodded. "Oh and by the way, the excuse with the Diner was great. You coming to one of Emily's dinners would be your biggest mistake ever. I don't want to bother you with the urge of hanging yourself afterwards, like I always do when I come home."

"It can't be that bad."

"Oh, believe me. It can."

"Maybe I'm coming with you. Just have to ask Cesar if he can watch the Diner for a few hours. Shouldn't be a big problem."

"No, Luke. You don't have to do this. It's more than enough when I'm going through hell and back. You really don't have to join me here."

"And what if I want to?"

"Then I'd say that's suicidal."

"If you say so." He gave her a charming smile before the waiter came, bringing them their food.

** xxxxxx**

"Coffee?" Luke asked when they entered his apartment.

"Since when you've got coffee upstairs?" Lorelai asked, facing him.

"I thought it would be a good idea to be prepared."

"Prepared? How could you be so sure that I'll come over to your place after dinner?" She asked, grinning.

"I didn't…I mean, I didn't say that I… ah geez, Lorelai. Don't give me that look. I just thought you'd come over eventually."

"I understand. Being prepared is a good thing." She gave him a serious nod before her lips twitched into a smile again. "And thanks. Coffee would be great."

"Okay, I'll make some." Luke walked over to the kitchen and began to fill water into the machine while Lorelai opened the fridge.

"Wow, Luke."

"Hm?" he was still busy with making coffee.

"What's all this? Oh my, it looks delicious. With all that cheese and ham, and this cute little tomatoes and mushrooms. Oh oh, and this? Is this what I think it is? A _chocolate_ dessert? I _loooove_ chocolate."

Luke stepped up behind her, placing his arms around her waist. "I know. That's why I made it." He began to kiss her neck.

"And oh my god, do I see a pie, too?"

"Hm-hmm."

"So you wanna tell me again, that you didn't expect me to come over?" She slowly closed the fridge and turned around so that she could face him.

"I told you I just wanted to be…"

"Prepared. I know." She leant against the fridge, giving him a smile. "You're cute."

"I'm not cute."

"Yes, you are." She nodded. "You really planned this."

"I just wanted to make it special."

"It _is_ special. Even without that chocolate dessert." She looked at him, biting her lower lip.

"Good to know."

"Yep."

"So, coffee's ready in a minute." He said, placing both of his hands on the fridge on either side of her head.

"Okay." She reached up and linked her arms around his neck, pressing her body close to his. Within a second, their lips meet in a passionate kiss. A kiss that felt like home. Despite all their concerns at the beginning of crossing the line of friendship, _this_ is what they needed. What they wanted. And both knew that.

Luke felt her tremble when his hands glided up and down her body, all the time holding her as close as possible.

Caressing the back of his neck, she could feel his heart raging against hers. Breathlessly they pulled apart and looked at each other. Lorelai was the first to speak. "Wow."

"Yeah, wow." Luke cleared his throat. "Maybe we should…"

She grabbed the collar of his suit and pulled him slowly toward his bed, grinning at him.

"But coffee is ready in a minute." Luke told her, while he followed her.

"Who needs coffee?" she helped Luke out of his jacket while she brushed her lips over his. "I want you." She whispered into his ears and pulled him down on the bed until he was lying on top of her.

"What about dessert?" he asked, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"_You_ are my dessert." She cupped his face and pulled him in a kiss. And he couldn't do anything but let himself slide in the sensation about what's going to come…

**xxxxxxxxx**

_**To be continued... Please R&R! :)  
So, that's enough for now. Hehe... evil ending, huh? :P But we all know what's going to happen, don't we?  
Please tell me how you liked this chapter. Thanks. :) **_


	20. Chapter 20

** Chapter 20**

Laying in the dark, they snuggled up close to each other, both having a huge smile on their faces. It happened. _Finally_.

With her head in the hollow of Luke's neck, Lorelai slowly ran a finger over his bare chest. "Oh _gooood_, that was so incredible." Lorelai sighed contently.

"Thanks, but Luke's fine with me." Luke responded grinning.

Lorelai let out a small laugh. "Well, okay… _Luke_. Good to know."

"Yeah, I just thought I'd let you know." He reached for her hand, intertwined his fingers with hers.

"Hm-hmm. Thanks."

"I never thought it would be like this. So… intense, you know?" Luke said, while he was caressing Lorelai's back with his other hand. Lorelai nodded slightly.

"Even in my dreams…"

She lifted her head to look at him, "You dreamt about this? I mean about _us_? "

"Well, yeah."

"Aw… what did we do? Was it dirty? Oh I bet it was, right?"

"Lorelai."

"What? I'm just curious. Uhm, just tell me what I was wearing. Uh uh… I bet I didn't wear anything at all, right? Huh, I'm right, am I?"

"Ah geez. I shouldn't have told you."

Grinning, she laid her head back down, so that her lips almost touched his neck. After a moment of silence she started again. "Luuuke?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you think it's time for…" she started but Luke interrupted her.

"Again? Woman, you're killing me. Three times weren't enough, huh?" Luke said, laughing.

"No." she hit him playfully on the chest before she continued. "I meant it's time to eat something because I'm starving."

"And I know why."

"God knows why but I lost a lot of calories in the last hour. Hmm, so what about all this food in your fridge? I _so_ want a midnight snack right now."

"I'll go get us something." He slipped into his boxer shorts and made his way over to the kitchen. A few minutes later he came back with a tray full of food.

Luke sat back down on the bed, leaning against the headboard of the bed.

"Where's my coffee?" Lorelai sat up frowning, when she couldn't found her beloved coffee on the tray.

"It's after midnight . You can't drink coffee in the middle of the night." He told her and poured some orange juice into a glass.

"Why not?"

"Because you won't be able to sleep later."

"Who says I want to?" Lorelai flashed him a grin but it vanished when she looked at the glass of orange juice he held out to her. "What's that?"

"Something healthy with vitamins. It's good, drink it."

She eagerly shook her head. "You know what? I'm not thirsty anymore."

"Ah geez." He let out a sigh and put the glass back on his nightstand.

She looked at him for a moment before she sat between his legs, leaning back against him. "Aw, _yes_. That's nice." She tilted her head back a little. "Is it comfy for you, too?"

"Absolutely." Luke embraced her with his strong arms, placing his hands on her belly.

She reached over to the tray and grabbed a snack to put it in her mouth. "Mmhhh."

"You like it?"

"Yep." She reached for a little tomato. "What's with the coffee you made earlier?"

"You can have orange juice."

"Nah, thanks. I'm fine." She stroked his forearm gently. "Luuuuke?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…" she stopped for a moment and glided her fingers up over his well-built biceps. "How come that you are _so_ built? I mean, you can barely see it under all your flannel but as a lucky girl, what I am of course, I got a chance to see you without it and… and there's nothing to complain about. On the contrary, I like that view a lot better than your flannel-backwards-baseball-cap look, though it makes you incredible sexy. Hmm, maybe that's the reason why I come to the Diner that often, to see you. Your coffee is without a doubt a deciding factor. I think we both know that but it's different when you can drink your coffee _and_ have an incredible body to look at. What do you think about serving coffee shirtless…"

"Lorelai…"

"Anyway, point is. Your muscular strong arms don't come from wiping the counter or filling the coffee machine, do they?"

"Very funny." He laughed and began to tickle her.

"What? What are you doing? It was a simple question." Laughing, she tried to push his hands away.

"Yes, I know and you're such a tease." He grabbed her waist to tickle her more and more until Lorelai couldn't stop laughing anymore.

"Luke…. please… stop that _now_. Or… or..." She tried to shove his hands away, still laughing.

"Or what?"

"Or you'll regret it, I swear." She tried to grab his hands. "That's not fair. Now you know the right places to tickle me."

"How true. Here for example." He tickled her waist. "Or here, am I right?"

"Luuuuke. Please, if you're not going to stop… we'll never do this again. So, think about it, Mister."

"Do _what_ again?" Luke asked, grinning.

"What we just did."

"And that was…?" he whispered and rolled them over so that he was laying on top of her.

"Oh c'mon, Luke. You were with me a few minutes ago, were you?" she grinned, her eyes focused on his. "At least I had the impression you were." She added, biting her lower lip.

"Yes, I was. Definitely." Luke was leaning over her, both of his elbows were propped on either side of her head.

"See, then you know what I'm talking about." She stopped for a moment before she continued. "So, you haven't answered my question yet. Do you go to the gym or something?"

"Yes, when I find time."

"Must have a lot of time." She grinned, still looking into his eyes.

"Stop that or I'm taking you with me the next time."

Taking me? Where?" she asked innocently.

"To the gym. A little work out together is more fun." He bent down to kiss her neck and up to her jaw.

"Fun? For who?" she whispered, closing her eyes at the sensation of Luke's mouth on her skin.

"For us."

"You got to be kidding. You're _so_ not taking me to the gym." She reached up and ran her fingers through Luke's hair, holding him close to her.

"We'll see." He mumbled against her neck.

"Hm?"

"Oh nothing." He whispered and started to kiss her passionately.

** xxxxxxx**

_ Next morning_

It was 9am when Taylor came into the Diner sitting down on a stool at the counter. Whistling, Luke came out of the kitchen, a towel over his shoulder and with two plates in his hands which he carried to a table. He asked the customers for more coffee before he walked back behind the counter.

"Hey Taylor , what can I get you?" he asked in an unusual good mood.

"Morning Luke. I'm not here as a customer. I'm here because I want to talk to you about something."

"Okay, shoot."

"It's uhm… there's going to be this festival next week and I wanted to ask… if… well, they're not very big… and I just have a few of them, so it shouldn't be a big problem…"

"What is it, Taylor ?"

"I have these flyers…" he put them on the counter in front of him, "… and I wanted to ask you, if we can place them on your tables to inform the people of Stars Hollow about what's going on in our town and won't miss this big event." Taylor looked at Luke, waiting for a reaction but he couldn't see anything, so he continued. "Luke, it's just a simple question. I don't ask you to help organizing anything because I know that you wouldn't do it anyway. I just want you to help me with taking the flyers and leave them on…"

"Sure." Luke nodded and grabbed the coffee pot to make his way over to the tables, filling empty mugs.

"Sure?" Taylor moved around to look at him. "You mean, it's okay? There's no arguing or something?"

"No, why? Just leave me the flyers on the counter."

Taylor watched Luke with wide eyes and open mouth. He couldn't believe it. This was probably the first time that a question from him haven't lead to a heating argumentation. "So, it's really okay?"

"Yes. You sure I can't get you something?"

"Uhm, no thanks."

"Okay." He walked back behind the counter to make fresh coffee.

Just a few seconds later, Lorelai came down the stairs and into the Diner. Luke looked up and their eyes met, both smiling.

"Morning." She walked over to him, giving him a kiss.

"Morning yourself." He filled her a cup of coffee and handed it to her.

"Thanks." She took it with a smile. "Why didn't you wake me up? I wanted to see Rory before I go to work."

"I thought you'd need some sleep since we didn't get a lot last night." He whispered grinning totally unaware that Taylor was watching them.

"Actually, you're right. But you left me in your bed all alone at… what time was it?" she shrugged and continued. "And I woke up at six and was all freezing and everything because you weren't there." She pouted, looking at him.

"I'm sorry. You know, duty called."

"I know. I just thought that you would've Cesar open for you."

"Next time. I had no chance to ask him before." He told her, wiping the counter.

"Oh, okay."

"You want some pancakes?" Luke offered, throwing the towel over his shoulder again.

"No thanks. I should go. I'm late anyway." She leant in and gave him a small kiss. "Thanks for the coffee and everything else." She grinned at him.

"You're welcome."

"Bye." She walked to the door to leave.

"6.30." he called after her.

Turning around, she gave him a confused look. "What?"

"I pick you up at 6.30 tonight." He repeated, walking over to the register.

"Luke. we can't go out tonight. Today is Friday. Dinner with my parents, remember?"

"I know." He nodded.

"Then why?" she asked but suddenly she remembered. "Oh no, what does that mean?"

"That I pick you up at 6.30 and I'm coming with you."

"No. No no no." she repeated, shaking her head. "_No_."

"Lorelai. Your mother invited me for dinner. How does it look like when I'm not coming with you? I don't want to make a bad impression right at the beginning, you know?" he reasoned, looking at her.

"It's okay. She knows that you're busy in your Diner."

"I asked Cesar. He'll close up for me."

"But…" she took a glance at Taylor who watched their conversation eagerly before she walked back to Luke, grabbed his arm and pulled him with her into the store room.

"What is it?"

"You don't have to do this, Luke."

"To join you for dinner? But I want to."

"No, you probably think that you _have_ to but that's not true. I'm going to tell my mother that your Diner was all crowded and you found no one to stand in for you. That's it. Problem solved."

"Problem solved? Lorelai, that's not how it works. If this is going to work between us…"

"_If_?" she looked at him frowning.

"No, I'm sure it will. Of course it will but point is. We can't do this forever."

"Do what?"

"Lying. To your mother."

"Uhm..."

"I mean, she's going to invite me again. Eventually. Don't you think? And how often I can tell her the excuse with my Diner? That's not going to work." He let out a sigh, looking at her.

"I know. It's just… I don't want to put you through this. Dinner with my parents is horrible. Actually everything, involving my parents, is horrible. Believe me, I'm not kidding here. Life-long experience, you know? Give my mother time to get used to the idea of _us_ being together and join me for dinner next week. Is that a deal?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes." She nodded, walking over to him.

"And she won't be mad at me and hate me forever because I dare to not coming to the '_oh so famous_' Friday night dinners?" Luke asked, frowning.

"I don't think so."

"You don't think so? Well, that sounds great."

"I'm just kidding. Look, let me deal with my parents alone tonight. Please."

Hesitantly, Luke answered. "Okay. If that's what you want."

"Yes." She grabbed his face and pulled him in for a kiss, shoving him back against some shelves so that a glass fell down on the floor. She pulled apart and looked at the floor, innocently. "Ops."

"Yes, _ops_. " Luke rolled his eyes, trying to hide a smile.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"I know, I know. Good think that it was empty."

"Yes." She gave him a quick kiss again before she walked to the door. "I better go now. Do you want me to call you after dinner?"

Taking the broom, he began to clean the floor. "Uhm, yes. Or you can come over or something."

"Maybe." She gave him a grin. "Bye."

"Bye." He smiled back at her before he continued with his work.

Lorelai walked out of the store room and left the Diner, leaving a curious looking Taylor at the counter.

** xxxxxxxx **

To be continued...

_**Okay, thanks for still reading my story. Wah, it's so long already, isn't it? :p  
Hm, well, please tell me if you liked this chapter. Thanks. :) **_


	21. Chapter 21

** Chapter 21**

"So, it was a great first date?" Rory pestered her mother after they climbed out of the car and walked to the front door of the Gilmore house.

"Yes." Lorelai nodded and it brought a smile on her face when she thought back on the previous day. And night of course. "Definitely."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Oh c'mon, Mom. Don't let me winkle everything out of you."

"Curiosity killed the cat, my dear." Lorelai told her daughter, sticking out her tongue.

"So Luke brought you to a restaurant, and then?"

"We had dinner there."

"Yes, that's what you're doing in a restaurant. Thanks for informing me, Mom."

"You're welcome." Lorelai pulled her shoulders up and gave Rory a wide grin.

"And then?"

"After dinner we went back to his place. He brought me upstairs into his apartment and…" she squinted with an eye to her daughter before she added. "Do you want me to continue?"

"Considering your look, you better stop here. Let me say one word. _Dirty_!!"

Lorelai tried to look shocked. "I don't know what you're talking about. Luke just showed me his stamp collection."

"Sure. The whole night."

"Yes." She said innocently and reached up to ring the bell.

A moment later, Emily opened the door and greeted them, "Rory, Lorelai." She stopped for a moment and glanced over Lorelai's shoulder before she continued. "Come in." She headed into the living room, leaving the girls on the doorstep.

"Thanks, mom. Nice to see you, too." Lorelai murmured and entered the hallway, slipping out of her coat and handing it to the maid. "And she tells me something about politeness. Unbelievable."

Rory rolled her eyes and did the same before she followed her mother into the living room.

"Richard. They're here."

"What?" he looked up from his newspaper. "Oh."

"Hey grandpa."

"Rory. Lorelai. Where's Luke?"

"Luke?" Rory asked, looking at her mother.

"Uhm, he couldn't come." Lorelai cleared her throat and sat down on the sofa on the opposite side of her father.

"That's what I've told you, Richard." Emily said and walked over to the bar. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Coke."

"White wine."

They sat in silence while Emily poured them their drinks when Richard finally started to talk again. "So Lorelai, how's everything?"

"Fine, thanks."

"And your hotel?"

"I hope it's still standing."

Richard let out a laugh. "Good answer. Still making your business class here in Hartford ?"

"Yes." Lorelai answered shortly before she sipped at her glass of wine.

He nodded and turned to his grandchild. "And Rory, how are things in Chilton?"

"Fine. We have to do this project about Shakespeare in our literature class. And lucky as I am, I'm in one group with Paris ."

Lorelai turned to her daughter. "Oh no, again?"

"Yes." Rory answered frowning.

"Who's this Paris ?" Emily asked curiously while she sat down next to Richard.

"Paris and I have a few classes together and I just can't get along with her."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay grandma. That's life."

"That's my grandchild." Richard said smiling and reached for his brandy.

"Mr. Medina is the teacher of your literature class, isn't he?" Emily took a quick glance at Lorelai when she said his name.

"Uhm, yes."

"The same Mr. Medina you kissed on this parent's day, Lorelai?" Emily asked her all of a sudden.

Examining her fingernails, she heard her mother's question and her head jerked up in disbelieve. "What?"

"Mr. Medina. I think it was him, right?"

Frowning, she put her glass of wine on the table in front of her. "I don't know what this has to do with Rory's school project."

"I'm just curious what happened between the two of you? A few weeks ago you seemed to be falling for one of Rory's teachers and now you're dating this man from a _Diner_? You moved on pretty fast, don't you think?"

Shaking her head, Lorelai answered. "I surely won't discuss this with you, mother." She settled back on the couch, crossing her arms over her chest.

"It was a simple question, Lorelai. The last time I asked you about Max Medina you told me how great he is and how you can imagine having a future with this man and now?"

"Topic change."

"Lorelai."

"Stop it, Mom." she sent her mother a furious look .

"Rory, do you remember the book we talked about on Wednesday?" Richard threw in, giving his granddaughter a smile.

"Yes?"

"I found it."

"Really?" Rory's eyes grew wide.

"Yes. It's in my office." He stood up and left the living room, heading towards his office.

Rory was about to get up too when Lorelai grabbed the sleeve of her blouse, pulling her back. "Don't dare to leave me alone here." She said whispering.

"Mom, don't be such a baby."

"I'm _not_." Lorelai muttered.

"Good. I'll be right back."

"But…" Lorelai started but Rory just got up from the sofa and followed her grandpa to his office.

Taking a deep breath, she watched her daughter walking away before her eyes fell on Emily who was sitting across from her.

They sat in silence, before Emily spoke up. "So, you and Luke Danes?"

"What?"

"You are…?"

Hesitantly Lorelai finished. "Dating."

"Uh-huh." Emily nodded.

"What?"

"Nothing." she settled back on the sofa, her eyes focused on the glass in her hands.

"I know there's something you wanna say. So spill it."

Emily looked up, meeting her daughters gaze. "I just can't see why you're choosing this Luke over Max."

"Excuse me?"

"Mr. Medina is teacher in an excellent high school. And Luke owns a _Diner_." Emily emphasized the last word.

Lorelai watched her with an open mouth, she couldn't believe her ears. "And?"

"And? Lorelai, don't you ever look ahead? A diner owner can't offer you the same like a teacher with an excellent reputation in society."

"If I'm not wrong, you were the one who told me how stupid I was, dating one of Rory's teacher. And now you're defending him. I don't believe this."

"I changed my mind."

"Oh really? Did you? Then, all I can say is change your mind again because that's how things are right now."

"Lorelai, please try to understand me. I just want what's best for you."

"What's best for me?" Lorelai couldn't sit anymore and jumped up from the sofa. "What's best for me? Then maybe you should let me chose my own boyfriend. How about that?"

"Lorelai, calm down."

"No, I don't wanna calm down. I'm sick of this, of you. I know that I'm not the daughter you wanted me to be. Never was, never will be. Fine, okay. I accepted this a while ago. No matter what I'm doing, nothing is good enough for you. The choice of my home, my job, my friends, my clothes…" she looked down at her new dark blue satin dress, she fell in love with when she went shopping with her daughter a week ago. "…my hair, my talking. Yes, _everything_."

"That's not true."

"Really? _Geez_, then you have a weird way to show me that, Mom. I was one big disappointment for you. But now, just this time, I beg you to respect me and my choice. Just this one time. That's not asking too much, is it?"

"No, it's not but…"

"See? Okay, then I want you to respect me and my relationship with Luke." Lorelai was pacing through the living room, gesturing with her hands while she was talking. "I know that you're upset because I didn't told you about us in the first place but I wanted to keep it for myself just a little bit longer. We just discovered our feelings for each other and everything is so new and great and…" she stopped, searching her mother's eyes.

"And what? You didn't want me to ruin this for you, right?" Emily asked, expressionless.

Lorelai hesitated a moment before she answered with a deep sigh, "Yes. I mean, no… _gaaah_. See, that's the reason I'm keeping important things to myself. We always end up like this."

"And of course it's my fault."

"Partly, yes."

"How long is this going on between you and Luke?"

Lorelai thought for a moment and finally answered with a smile. "Over a week."

Emily noticed the change on Lorelai's face when she was thinking about Luke and continued cautiously. "And now _he's_ the love of your life?"

"If you're going to mention Max again, I promise I'll scream. I know I said similar things a few weeks ago when I was with him. But now with Luke, it's different. _Good_ different, you know?"

Emily noticed her smile again and let her talk further, taking a sip from her glass of water.

"Luke and I, we know each other years. He's my coffee dealer and my Mr. Fix-it. He's almost always grumpy and can be really furious when I ask for my third cup of coffee. But all this doesn't change the fact that… that I have feelings for him." She placed her hand over her heart, her lips twitching into a warm smile. "I feel save and happy when I'm around him and _nooo_… it's not just his coffee. And he's so incredible sweet. Yesterday was our very first date and I have to say from all the dates I had in my life, it was far the best. Not because he planned something great and special, and spent a lot of money just to make sure we're going to have a great evening. No, it was the best date because I was with _him_. And that was all that mattered to me." Lorelai noticed that her eyes became all teary and she let out a small laugh. "Oh god, and now look at me. " She tried to dry her eyes with the sleeves of her dress, taking a deep breath.

"Lorelai, can I ask you a question?" Emily asked calmly, lifting herself from the sofa and approaching her daughter on the other side of the room.

"Yes?"

"Do you love him?"

Lorelai looked at her mother and didn't know what to say.

_ Love_ . This is such a big word, isn't it? _Do I love Luke?_ She cared for him. A lot. He was the one person she trusted the most, except Rory of course. The more she thought about it, she noticed how her heartbeat got faster. She sure as hell knew that this thing with Luke was special. They were together a week, well none of them actually said something of _being_ together but they were dating, weren't they?

And it was totally different to the relationships she had during the last years. Max, for example. He was nice, caring, sweet and intelligent. Every woman on earth would think that's it. I found it but as soon as it started, it was over again. Things got to complicated for both of them. So it was the best to end it before they would have gotten into a deeper relationship. And as devastated as she was, she knew that they weren't meant to be.

But maybe Luke and she were? She knew too well that all people of Stars Hollow wanted them to be together, for years. They had a betting pool as well. _Oh boy, crazy town people_. She thought with a smile on her lips.

_Luke has a thing for you_, she heard Patty saying to her a few years ago but she couldn't believe it and just shook her head, telling her that they're just friends.

_ Just friends_ . She repeated the words in her head, over and over again. Yes, at the beginning she was afraid to lose the close friendship she had with Luke when they'll cross the line. And now that they finally have, she didn't regret it. No, not at all.

"Emily, for god sake. What are we waiting for? It's seven." Richard came into the living room, looking at Emily and his daughter.

His words brought Lorelai back into reality and she turned to her mother again, who was watching her daughter intensly. Emily gave her a small but warm smile before she turned on her heals and headed into the kitchen, "Yes Richard. I'll go and check if the dinner is ready."

Lorelai's eyes followed her mother outside before she took a deep breath. Her mother was right. She was in love with Luke and this didn't even scare her. Not even a little bit.

Smiling, she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and joined Rory and her father in the dining room.

**xxxxxxxx**

After dinner, Emily walked her girls to the door.

"Thanks for dinner, grandma. It was delicious, like always."

"Thanks Rory. So, we'll see each other next Friday."

"Yes grandma." Rory told her, grabbing her coat.

"And Lorelai?"

"Yeah?" she looked up, meeting her mother's gaze.

"Maybe you could bring Luke with you. We're looking forward to meet your boyfriend." Emily told her, smiling.

_ Wow, is this really happening?_ Lorelai thought, but smiled back at her. "Uhm, sure. This can be arranged."

"Good. I'm glad."

"Me too. Bye mom." And with that, they left the house and walked to their car.

Sitting in the car, Lorelai put her head down on the steering wheel, exhaling deeply.

"Mom, you're okay?"

She lifted her head again and stayed silent for a moment before she said, "I guess."

"What happened in there?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"I mean, what happened between you and grandma when I was with grandpa in his office?" Rory asked, curiously.

"Well, we had a very nice conversation." Lorelai told her, jokingly.

"Be serious, Mom."

"I am. Well, first we had a little fight because I told her that it's my life and I can decide for myself what's best for me. And I chose Luke because this is what I want. And the last thing I know is that she asked me if I'm in love him. But I couldn't answer her because dinner was ready and… and… well, that was it. And you saw what happened back there. She wanted me to bring Luke next week because they wanted to meet him. And as ridiculous as it may sound but I believed her."

"I'm sure she meant it, Mom. Why didn't he come with us today?"

"Huh?"

"Luke. She already invited him for today."

"Oh yes. I told him not to come."

"What? Why?"

"I wanted to talk to my mother alone. And I'm glad I did because I didn't want him to be in the middle of our fight this evening." Lorelai nodded slightly, knowing that she did the right thing with telling Luke to stay at the Diner.

"And you think she's okay now with you and Luke?"

"I hope so." She whispered. "I do hope so."

** xxxxxxx**

_** To be continued… R&R! :) **_


	22. Chapter 22

** Chapter 22**

It was about 11pm when Luke got out of his truck and walked up to the front door of the Gilmore House. He knocked softly and waited for someone to open. He was a little surprised when Rory answered the door a few moments later.

"Luke?"

"Oh, uhm. Hey Rory." Luke greeted her nervously, shoving his hands in the back pockets of his jeans.

"What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"No no, it's uhm… your Mom called me to come over. And… I know it got a little late and yeah…" he looked at her.

"Oh, okay. No problem. I was still up anyway." She stepped aside and gestured him in. "Come on in, it's freezing out there."

"Thanks." Luke entered the house and closed the door behind him.

"Mom is upstairs." Rory told him while she walked back into the living room, kneeling down in front of the small table where she worked on her history paper.

"Okay then, I'll go upstairs too." Luke said hesitantly and made his way up the stairs.

Rory shook her head grinning and turned back to her paper.

Upstairs, Luke stood in front of Lorelai's room. He knocked slightly before he opened the door to peek inside. Lorelai was laying on her bed, already wearing her pyjamas and with her back to him.  
Silently, he stepped inside and walked over to her bed, sitting down. Her breathing was steady, so he figured that she was already asleep.

So he decided to slip out of his shoes and take off his baseball cap, to lay down behind her. Slipping a hand around her waist, he gently placed it on her belly, shifting his body close to hers.

Feeling his warm touch, Lorelai began to stir and slowly opened her eyes. "Hey."

"Hey." Luke whispered back, close to her ear.

She tilted her head back a little and smiled. "You're late."

"I had to wait for the bread delivery." He told her, his hands slipping under the top of her pyjamas, caressing her belly ever so softly. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"And I didn't mean to fall asleep." She ran her fingers over his forearm. "I'm glad you're here now."

"Me too. "

She rolled on her back and turned her head to lock her lips with his. When she pulled apart, she looked at him, grinning.

"What?" Luke asked when he noticed it.

"It's just… you smell _soooo_ good." She grinned again, biting her lower lip. "Like one of your burgers. Yummy!"

"Oh god, really?" He smelled at the collar of his flannel shirt. "Ah geez, you're right."

"Of course, I am." She ran a finger along his jaw line and over his stubble.

"I'm sorry. I had no time to take a shower. I came straight to your house and…"

"Hey, I told you it's okay. It just makes me a little hungry but you know how food obsessed I am."

Luke let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I heard about that."

"Good." She slowly began to unbutton his shirt. "Uhm, you're staying over night, aren't you?"

"Uhm…" he looked down at her busy fingers. "If you want that?"

"Yes I do." She sat up, gesturing him to come closer. So he sat up too.

A second later, their lips met in a warm kiss. Slowly at beginning but soon it became more passionatly. Her tongue explored his hot mouth while she pulled his shirt off his broad shoulders.

Luke captured her face to deepen the kiss. Their tongues met, breathing became faster and heavier. Lorelai glided her hands under his shirt, running her fingers up and down his well built back. Panting, they pulled apart, looking at each other. Lorelai gave him a smile and pulled the shirt over his head, throwing it on the floor.

When she started to kiss him again, Luke mumbled against her lips. "Rory. What about Rory?"

"Busy with her homework." She nibbled at his lower lip, while she was caressing the back of his head.

"But what if…"

Lorelai stopped to look at him. "Are you feeling… uncomfortable?"

"A little bit… yeah!"

Grinning, she climbed out of the bed to lock her bedroom door. "Better?"

"What if she's gonna hear… you know… anything?"

"Then baby, you'll have to try to stay a little quiet. I know that _I_ can control myself but what about _you_?" she asked, grinning from ear to ear.

"It's no problem for me either."

"Really?" she gave him a disbelieved look and climbed back into her bed. "When I think back to yesterday, I doubt that."

Luke laughed. "But yesterday, there was no purpose to control myself, was it?"

"Hmmm… you definitely have a point here." She ran a finger down his bare chest.

"See." He flipped them over until Lorelai was lying beneath him.

"And what now? Are you going to prove it?" she asked, shooting him a wide grin.

"You bet!" he intertwined his fingers with hers, pulling them up over her head while he bent down and started to kiss her again…

** xxxxxxxxxx**

The next morning when Lorelai woke up, the space next to her was cold and empty. Luke was gone. Sighing, she looked at her alarm clock. 9am. Of course, he was gone to open the Diner. _Gahhh…__hate the Diner_.

She pulled the covers up to her chin and turned to her side. When she lifted her head, she saw a piece of paper on the pillow next to her. She grabbed it and started to read.

**_ Good morning, sleepyhead! _**

**_ I definitely should come over more often, after work. And as far as I can say, the "controlling thing" really worked. Maybe not for you, but for me. _**_Not really, Mister. _Lorelai laughed.

**_ Oh and I checked the coffee in your kitchen and noticed that it's not mine. So, I hope you'll come over later. For a cup, or two or… whatever. It doesn't matter when, because you know I'm always there. _**

**_ Luke. _**

Smiling, she put the note down again. _Yeah, I love the whatever part most._

** xxxxxxxx**

An hour later the bells above the door of the Diner jingled when Lorelai walked in. When she couldn't find Luke, she walked around the counter and entered the kitchen where he was busy with making pancakes and scrambled eggs at the same time. With his back to her, he didn't notice her walking in. Slowly she slipped her arms around his waist, whispering into his ear. "Hey."

"Hey. You know you shouldn't be back in here."

"Yes, you told me that _zillion_ times before but now it's different because I'm your _girlfriend_, am I? And as your girlfriend I have certain rights, you know?" her hands glided up his chest.

"Oh really? Is that so?"

"Yep. Besides this, it makes you so _incredible_ sexy when you're cooking."

"Ah _geez_, Lorelai."

"That's the truth. How you handle the pans and the spatulas. Very impressive. Very professional." She looked over his shoulder with a wide grin.

"Cesar is running late today because of a dentist appointment. So I have to do all the cooking... _and_ the serving."

"Hmmm, you know… I could give you a hand. I have nothing else to do anyway."

"Really? You wanna help?"

"Sure, it's no big deal. I mean, I definitely won't help you cooking because we both know this would lead to some horrible things like injuries and fire but I could make the service and stuff."

"I could really need some help."

"Good." She paused for a moment. "There's just one condition."

"And that is?" he turned around, finally facing her.

"Free coffee!" she batted her eyelashes, smiling sweetly. "_Aaaand_…"

"I thought just _one_ condition?" Luke gave her a smile.

"Well, I just noticed that I didn't have any breakfast today."

"Okay." He nodded. "What do you want?"

"Hmm." She grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer until they were just inches apart. "Any recommendations?"

"Well." He looked up at the ceiling. "Danish, Doughnut, chocolate pancakes, raspberry pancakes, blueberry pancakes, ham and eggs, scrambled eggs with bac…"

Before he was able to finish, Lorelai grabbed his face and pulled him into a deep kiss.

"That wasn't on the menu."

"_That _honey is _always_ on my menu." She grinned. "I'll take a Danish."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Okay." He was still looking at her when he heard someone calling for him.

"Excuse me. When do I get my scrambled eggs?"

"Maybe I should…" she gestured with her head towards the Diner.

"Yeah." He handed her the plate.

Lorelai took it and gave him a small peck on the lips before she moved around and walked back into the Diner.

"Scrambled eggs?" Lorelai asked with the plate in her hands.

"Here." A man on the counter lifted a finger and she put it down in front of him.

"More coffee?" she grabbed the coffee pot and refilled his almost empty cup.

Suddenly, the phone rang and Lorelai jumped. She looked at it and shouted into the kitchen. "Luke, telephone!"

"Can you take the call, please?"

"Oh yeah, sure." _Wow, Luke lets me pick up his Diner phone_. She smiled and took the phone. "Luke's."

"Here's Mrs. Gilmore. Can I speak to Luke Danes, please?"

And her smile faded. "Mom?"

"Lorelai? Why are you answering the phone at Luke's Diner?"

"And why are you calling at Luke's Diner? When you wanna talk to me you should call on my cell phone." Lorelai told her, leaning against the counter.

"But I didn't want to talk to you. What are you doing there anyway? Don't you have to be at the hotel?"

"Not today."

"Oh okay."

"Yeah."

"So, can you get Luke on the phone, please?"

"Why?" Lorelai asked frowning.

"Because I want to talk to him."

"About what?"

"Lorelai, please. Just get him on the phone."

A moment later Luke came out of the kitchen and saw Lorelai was still talking on the phone. "Who is it?"

She covered the phone with her hand. "My mother."

"Oh okay." He was about to walk away again when Lorelai grabbed his hand.

"It's for you."

"What?" he looked at her confused.

"Yes." Lorelai shrugged and handed him the phone.

Taking a deep breath, Luke answered. "Luke Danes."

"Luke. This is Mrs. Gilmore speaking. I'm not sure if Lorelai talked to you already. That's why I call you myself."

"Talked to me about _what_?" his eyes settled on Lorelai.

"About dinner next Friday. I wanted to invite you again. It was such a pity that you weren't able to come yesterday but I understand that you couldn't leave the Diner that early. So, maybe it's possible for you to find someone to stand in for you for next week?"

"Uhm, next week... yes okay."

"Wonderful. Mr. Gilmore and I are looking forward to meet you."

"Okay then… next Friday."

"Yes. See you then."

"Yeah, bye." Luke hang off the phone when his eyes wandered over to Lorelai. "So, when do you wanted to tell me about it?"

"Today. It totally slipped my mind yesterday. God knows why." She grinned innocently.

Luke blushed slightly and looked down at his feet.

"So, you really want to join me for dinner next week?"

"Yes." He finally looked up at her again. "Got some problems with that?"

She waited a moment before she shook her head. "No. I guess not."

"Good because there is no way to talk me out of this again."

"No, I wouldn't… I mean…" she sighed. "It's just, you don't know my mother."

"Don't be worried. It's going to be fine."

"Yeah, okay." She gave him a small smile. Then her eyes fell on Tayler's flyers on the counter. She picked one up. "Hey, what's that?"

"Some flyers. There's this stupid firelight festival next week. Every year the same thing. It kind of _really_ bugs me that all those crazy people are dying to go there over and over again." He told her, wiping the counter.

"Oh." She paused for a moment. "Yeah, you're right. It's really annoying." She put the flyer back to the others, looking at it sadly. She really wanted to go there.

Luke noticed her expression and stopped wiping. "But you know what? Maybe it's going to be better this year."

Lorelai lifted her head, meeting his gaze. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"Because I have someone I can go with." He grabbed her hands and turned her towards him. A small smile was playing on her lips.

"Do you want to go to the firelight festival with me?"

Her smile grew wider. "I'd love to."

"Then I'd say, it's a date."

"Yeah, it's a date." She repeated smiling, throwing her arms around his neck.

**xxxxxxxx**

_**To be continued... Please tell me how you liked this chapter. Thanks! :) **_


	23. Chapter 23

** Chapter 23**

_ One week later - Friday evening_

Lorelai entered the Diner when Luke was busy with serving food to customers that he didn't notice her coming in.

Scribbling something down on his notepad, he headed back behind the counter when Lorelai approached him, "Heeeey you."

He looked up at her, slightly confused. "Oh my god, what time is it?"

"5.30. I know, I'm early."

"God, you almost gave me a heart attack here." he rolled his shoulders, taking a deep breath. "Cesar, two turkey burgers and a cheeseburger with chilli fries."

Looking up at him, she noticed Luke's expression and gave him a soft smile. "Hey, you're nervous, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not." Luke shook his head, looking away.

"Aww, of course you are." Lorelai lifted a hand up to his face, touching him softly. "You don't have to be."

"I'm _not_ nervous."

"They'll love you."

"Don't say that because we both know that's hardly possible."

"Hm, yeah maybe but then _I_ do."

"You do... what?" he looked at her, raising an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"I... you know..." before she could finish the sentence, her cell phone rang. Slightly relieved, she rummaged through her purse until she found it and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Mom, hey."

"Oh hey Rory. What's going on?"

"Where are you?"

"At Luke's. Why?" Lorelai noticed Luke's glance and quickly turned away.

"Oh okay. I just got home from Lane and you weren't there, so I got a little worried.

"Oh no, everything's okay. I'm just at Luke's to help him to prepare for dinner."

"Prepare? Do you make him wear a suit again?" her daughter asked with a wide grin.

"A suit? Well maybe..."

"I'm _not _wearing a suit." Luke threw in, emphasizing the word _not_ very clearly.

"He just said that he won't wear a suit but we'll see about that. You know that he can't resist my charm."

"Well then... I wish you a lot of fun."

"Don't be sarcastic, young lady."

"I'm not."

"Yes you are. You're just mean because you backed out of tonights Friday night dinner and leave Luke and me alone."

"It's the three month anniversary of Dean and me. He planned something big. Besides this, you're not alone. You have Luke."

"I know. I was just joking. Have fun and don't do anything I'd... okay, forget about that."

Rory shook her head, laughing. "Okay. Bye."

"Bye hon'." Lorelai put the cell phone back into her purse and met Luke's gaze. "What?"

He pointed at the "_No Cell Phone_" sign on the wall behind the counter. "You do know that I have this sign for a reason, do you?"

"Uhm, really? And I thought it's just for decoration." she gave him her best smile, throwing her hair over her shoulder. "How often do I have to tell you about my rights as your girlfriend?"

"Rights? You mean all those things you're doing for _years_? Like coming behind the counter, taking coffee yourself, walking into the kitchen whenever you're hungry, using your cell phone. Are you talking about all this?"

"Hmm..." Lorelai pretended to think for a moment. "...yes. But I'm not doing this for _years_."

"Yes, you do."

"But what about the thing from Wednesday?"

"Wednesday?" Luke asked confused.

Lorelai rolled her eyes, grinning from ear to ear.

"Could you please tell me what you're talking about?"

She leant forward to whisper into his ear. "Storeroom... you and me... remember?"

One word was enough that Luke knew what she was talking about. Blushing slightly, he answered. "That was just _one _time and it was _your _idea."

"Who says it wasn't?" she wiggled with her eyebrows.

"You started it while I was unpacking my Wednesday delivery."

"Yes, totally innocent. I know. But you can't say that you didn't like it too." Lorelai smirked and moved around. "Cesar? We're upstairs. Can you take over?"

Cesar pointed his head out of the kitchen and nodded. "Sure. No problem."

"Good." Lorelai grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him up the stairs.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Preparing you for dinner." she walked to his closet and opened it. "So, what do we have here?"

"Ah geez, Lorelai. Don't make me wear my suit."

"C'mon, you look great in your suit."

"But I'm not feeling very comfortable in it. I look like one of those snobby businessmen. And you know I hate those guys."

"Honey, you look lovely in a suit. Not that I don't like your everyday style but '_gentleman Luke_' kinda turns me on, you know." she gave him a wide grin.

"Oh really?"

"Yep."

"But no tie and no white shirt underneath."

Lorelai turned around and rummaged through his closet. "The blue one?"

"The blue one's fine."

"With black pants and black jacket.

"That's a deal."

"Good."

"And you didn't forget what's after dinner?"

A smile was playing on her lips. "Of course not. You're going to the firelight festival with me. " she threw her arms around Luke's neck.

"That's right."

"Poor Luke. This is going to be a bad, bad day for you. My parents, a town event... and everything just because of me."

"But it was my decision to attend to both of them, remember?"

"I know but…"

"Because of you.

"You're so sweet." she glided her hands down to his shirt and started to unbutton it.

"Right back at ya." he grinned and met her lips in a gentle kiss.

** xxxxx**

They walked up to the Gilmore House and waited a moment before they rang the bell. Lorelai moved around to look at her boyfriend, adjusting the collar of his jacket, a small grin on her lips.

"What?"

"Nothing. A few images just raced through my head."

"Like...?"

"You, wearing your flannel and baseball cap and my mother opening the door. Wouldn't it be funny to see her reaction to this?" Lorelai flashed him a grin.

"Yeah, extremely." Luke shook his head and reached up to ring the bell.

A moment later the door opened and Emily looked at them. "Lorelai. Luke. Come in." She stepped aside and gestured them in. "I'm so glad you could come, Luke."

Luke helped Lorelai out of her coat and slipped out of his own jacket. "Yeah, me too. Nice to see you again, Mrs. Gilmore."

Emily's eyes wandered from Luke to Lorelai, "Lorelai, your dress looks pretty."

"Why, thank you Mom." she looked slightly confused because it was not very often that her mother made some compliments about her outfits. When she thought about it, she couldn't even remember the last time.

"Let's go into the living room. Richard, they're here." she called into the direction of his home office and made her way over to the living room.

"Seems like we caught her in a good mood today." Lorelai smiled and reached for Luke's hand, following her mother.

They sat down on the sofa next to each other, still holding their hands.

"'What do you want to drink, Luke?"

Luke turned to look at Lorelai and asked her, whispering. "Is beer okay?"

"Sure, honey." she gave his hand an assuring squeeze. "We're taking a beer, Mom."

"Damn it, Richard." she called again before she handed both their beer, sitting down across from them. "I told him not to start a phone call. Richard?"

"I'm coming. I'm coming." Richard hurried into the living room. "Lorelai. Luke. Sorry, but I had this important phone call to make. Luke, I'm glad you could make it today." he walked over to shake his hand.

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Gilmore." Luke answered politely, giving him a smile.

Richard sat down next to his wife, looking at Luke and Lorelai and their joined hands. "So..." he started after a while. "how's everything?"

"Good. Fine." Lorelai nodded smiling.

"Good to hear that." his eyes wandered to Luke. "As far as I know you'll run a Diner?"

"Yes, that's right. It was my father's. Well, actually it was a hardware shop before but I changed it into a Diner and it runs pretty good."

"You get the _bestest_ coffee there. God, you have no idea how delicious it is. One of your cups of coffee would be just perfect right now, hon'." Lorelai threw in, sighing deeply.

"Later." Luke whispered and turned back to Richard when he started to talk again.

"And how long do you know each other?"

"Uhm, how long?" Lorelai mused and met Luke's eyes with a smile. "Four years?"

"Yes, four years." he smiled back at her.

"And how do you met?"

"It must have been at Luke's, I guess."

"It was. You came for a cup of coffee."

"Of course. What else could you've expected." Emily said, her eyes wandered from Luke to Lorelai.

Luke let out a small laugh. "So true. She came in and pleaded for a cup of coffee but I was busy with serving food to other customers, so I told her to wait a few minutes until I get back to her. But she followed me around and _really_ started to annoy me."

"That's not possible." Lorelai grinned.

"Sure, it is. Then you opened the newspaper and flipped to the horoscope page. Of course you wanted to know my sign. To make you shut up I finally told you."

"Yeah, I counted five colours of red on your face." Lorelai looked down and chuckled slightly, thinking back on that specific day.

"Then you took a pencil and scribbled something down. Do you remember that?"

"Sure. I wrote, _you'll going to meet an annoying woman today. Give her a cup of coffee and she'll go away_."

"So I gave you your coffee."

She looked up grinning and met his eyes. "But I didn't go away."

"Not really." They were staring at each other for a moment before he continued. "Thank god, you didn't."

"I don't believe you still remember all this."

"How could I not remember the day you came into my life."

_ Oh god, I love this man. _ "You have a point here."

"I kept the horoscope too." Luke whispered softly.

"You kept it?"

"Yeah." he caressed her fingers with his thumb.

„Wow, you kept the horoscope all those years." Lorelai smiled from ear to ear. She couldn't believe it.

Emily watched them and realized that maybe this time it was different. She could almost see the sparks flying when they looked at each other. Or the way they talked to each other. And she could definitely see that Luke cared for her daughter. Yes, he cared for her a lot.

** xxxxxx**

After dinner they drove back to Stars Hollow and parked Luke's truck in front of his Diner before they walked over to the town square where the famous firelight festival already started.

Hand in hand they crossed the street, when Lorelai asked, "You want some of that killing party punch?"

"Maybe later."

"I'll remember you." Lorelai said grinning.

"I bet you'll do." They finally stood in front of the fire, slowly turning towards each other.

"Wow, there's something going on here." Lorelai looked around the square before her eyes settled back at Luke again.

"Yep, crazy people."

She tilted her head to the side, never leaving his eyes. "And you're one of them."

"Geez, I know." His eyes fell on the floor when he chuckled slightly.

"The Dinner went really well, don't you think?" she turned towards the fire again, rubbing her arms.

"Yes. Hey, are you freezing?"

"Nah, just a little."

He stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her close to him. "Better?"

"Hm hm." She nodded smiling, cuddling into Luke's embrace.

"Good." They stood there in silence, just watching the fire. "I think the dinner didn't go that bad at all."

"Because my mother likes you. I told you before but you wouldn't believe me."

"What? Do you think she'd show me directly if she wouldn't like me?"

She answered laughing, "Sure. What do you think? It's my mother we're talking about."

"I know how my charm works."

"I know that too. Oh, and the suit. Don't forget the suit. That was definitely a huge plus." She tilted her head back a little to meet his eyes.

"Yeah. Thanks for making me wear it."

"You're welcome." She slowly turned around in his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Still cold?"

Lorelai shook her head, intertwining her fingers behind Luke's neck. "Not really."

"Good."

"Luke?"

"Yes?"

"There's something I wanted to tell you." She nervously shifted from one foot to the other.

"Okay, what?"

Swallowing hard, she looked away for a moment to gather her thoughts. "Uhm, it's just… you and me… this is just great."

A smile was playing on Luke's features. "Yes, I know that. Actually it's more than great."

"And look how long it took us to get here. Four years. Four years you were in front of me. I saw you _everyday_ and not just once. And I still can't believe that you kept that horoscope. That is just the sweetest thing ever. I mean, _four_ years. It took me four years to realize what I'm feeling for you. And I really don't wanna lose that. I don't wanna lose _you_ and I don't know what…"

"Hey, you won't. I promise." He put a finger under her chin and made her look at him.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she took a deep breath. "Good. That's good. Because the reason I don't wanna lose you is because I love you. And… and I couldn't bare to lose what we have. Sure, our friendship was great too. We could always depend on each other and it was kind of special all the time but this is different and maybe you don't see it the same way but I do. And it doesn't change the fact that you mean more than anything to me. Well, except Rory but that doesn't count anyway because she's my flesh and blood. But I just wanted to let you know that this thing between you and me… what we have… that this is… you know… unique. And I really, really, really don't wanna lose you. Ever."

_ What did she just say?_ Luke's eyes were focused on her. He couldn't believe his ears. Did she say the words he longed for so long to her from her? Those magical three words?

Her heart sank. Why didn't he say anything back to her? "Luke?"

"W-what did you just say?"

"That I don't wanna lose you."

"No, before."

"That you mean a lot to me?"

"No. Something else."

"Uhm... that Rory is my flesh and blood?"

"No."

"That I don't believe you kept the horoscope?"

"Lorelai."

She swallowed and whispered. "That I love you."

He placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her into a warm and gentle kiss.

Out of breathe they pulled apart. "Oh god, I love you too. And you have no idea how much." Luke finally whispered.

Lorelai's lips twitched into a smile before she pulled him into a second kiss, more passionately this time. And neither of them did care about Babette and Patty who were watching them with great interest from the other side of the street.

** End **

* * *

_**Wow, okay. I finally found to an end. LOL I thank everyone for reading my story and for all those nice reviews. They meant a lot to me... you have no idea! :) It was really fun writing this story with all those sweet JJ tenderness I'd love to see on the show. But we didn't get that much so far, didn't we?  
Anyway, thanks again to all of you. :) **_


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